Love the Way you lie
by 1videokid9
Summary: Mori Tomoko isn't your typical ninja, she is in fact from a secret ninja land in the Mountains. But when her village was attacked, she and her brother Haruo are saved by the Fire Country ANBU and is adopted by the Uchiha clan, this is how she met Sasuke!
1. Meet Mori Tomoko!

_I remember sitting in a long, unfamiliar hallway. I had no clue where me and my older brother was... but we definitely knew we were no longer in the mountains._

_My brother, Haruo stared emotionless at the door in front of him, listening to the muffled voices behind it. I had the belief that he had more knowledge on what was going on._

"_Where are we Aaron (brother)?" I asked him in a whisper. _

_Haruo snapped out of his trance and shifted his forest green eyes to meet mine. As he did this his long black and blonde hair fell in front of his face. "I'm not sure Tomoko-sweostor (sister)" he told me with a small smile "but I know where safe"._

_I wasn't reassured, in fact I was terrified. The men who brought us here were wearing strange masks and wore a lot of armour, I wouldn't speak to anyone but my brother. Also our mother never left my thoughts, the last time I saw her was her screaming at Haruo to take me and run far away. Suddenly the door opened and out came two of the strange dressed men from earlier and an elderly man is a long white robe with a funny hat. _

"_Hello young ones!" the old man spoke with a kind smile. I of course said nothing which caused Haruo to glance at me, and then back at the old man._

"_Hello..." answered my brother politely._

_The old man bent down to our level which caused me to cling to my brother's shirt. "You have nothing to be afraid of... I want to help you" the man told me._

"_It's okay" Haruo whispered to me and then turned back to the old man "I'm sorry sir... I think my sister is still in shock."_

_I was in shock, everything happened so fast, that I can't remember. All that flashed in my head was fire, screams and running. _

_The old man chuckled warmly "that's okay, after what my ANBU team told me... you've been through a lot". He then turned to the man on his right "could you please have Fugaku to come see me at once"._

"_Yes Hokage-Sama" the man answered and then disappeared._

_Hokage-Sama turned back to us with another warm smile "everything is going to be alright..."_

* * *

"TOMOKO! HURRY UP FOR YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I guess it's a good job my brother was home today because I defiantly did not hear my alarm.

After I got out of bed, I started walking to mirror... yawning in the process. As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes I studied my reflection.

My deep, forest green eyes first looked at my chocolate-brown hair; it was now down to my mid back and hanged loosely from my oval head. I was quite pretty... in fact according to my good friend Hinata; most of the boys in the class had a crush on me.

As flattering as it was, I wasn't really interested in tat kind of attention. I mean... I'm thirteen years old for goodness sake! I have plenty of time to find romance.

Moving to my wardrobe I picked out my outfit, which consisted of a figure hugging, white vest top that was cut off showing off my well-toned stomach. A baggy black, thin waist coat that was tied in a knot at the front. Black and Grey cut off pants, and my trusting black and white striped scarf.

Incase you haven't gathered, I am extremely fit for my age. Which was something that I always found strange. I don't exactly train that hard, but my teachers always told me that I was just naturally gifted in combat, and that my body showed the perfect physic of an old warrior. I often dismiss comments like that, because I know, I'm just one originally girl trying to get by in life.

Sitting back on the bed, I began to bandaged both my ankles up to the Tiber bone. I began to think about the reason why I decided to become a ninja in the first place. It was mostly because, nearly everyone around me was a shinobi. I would watch them from my bedroom window, either leaving for a mission, or returning home. The sense of pride that they had serving for their village was romance to me. And since this village has given me so much, I felt it was about time I gave something back.

"Okay! lets get this show on the road!" I told myself and left my bedroom.

I ran downstairs into the kitchen were my brother, wearing his Chunin uniform stood over the counter. All that I could see of him was his long, blonde and black hair.

"If you don't move now you'll be late..." Haruo told me whilst turning around. In his hand was my pack lunch, and his bright forest-green eyes staring at me.

Haruo, my eldest brother and the only family I had left. Since that day when we arrived, he has been working hard to support us by becoming a Ninja. He was incredibly hansom! but if you told him so he would be that guy who would say, 'I don't know about that, but thanks!'

Quickly I snatched the bag from his hands and went to go put my shoes on.

"You're welcome..." he mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry Haruo-Aaron (brother)..." I yell "but it's my exam to become Genin tomorrow... I can't afford to be late!"

Haruo walked into the doorway and watched me put on my sandals "oh yeah I forgot it was tomorrow... listen the day after that, I have to start a mission, but if you've passed... I have something to give to you afterward".

This made me pause my actions at stare at him "what... as in a present?"

Hauro shrugged "yeah I guess you could call it that... but I'll explain more when I come pick you up when your day is finished. Now get going and I'll see you later!"

"Okay bye Aaron!" I shouted back and bolted at the door. I knew that if I ran I could probably make it in time for class but that theory came to an abrupt halt when something crashed into me.

"AHH sorry Tomoko, hope I didn't hurt you" said the voice in a slight panic. "Sorry gotta go!" and with that the figure ran off. As I was recovering all I could see was a flash of orange whizzing past. Only one name came into my head...

_'Naruto'_

What's he done now I wonder... but I didn't have much time to keep that thought and once again started running to the academy... come to think of it... shouldn't Naruto be heading that way to?

* * *

I managed to get to my class and see no sign of Iruka-Sensei.

"Oh good... good morning Tomoko-san" my good friend Hinata stuttered.

I gave her a small smile and sat next to her "morning Hinata-Chan! Did I miss anything?"

"N-not really... but... Sakura-Chan... And... Ino-chan... Were f-fighting again"

This caused me to sigh_ 'there's only one reason for that'_ I thought as I looked across the room. There I saw the class's number one student and heart throb... Sasuke Uchiha.

As usual, he acted as if no one else was in the room, with his hands linked together staring straight forward with is emotionless gaze. He probably knew I was staring... but as usual chose to ignore it. But I didn't stare at him for the same reasons as the other girls did... no.

Me and Sasuke had history... lots of it; many of the class knew it and chose to avoid talking about it. Like everyone else... Sasuke now treats me like gum on the bottom of his shoe... even though in our childhood... we were the best of friends.


	2. Believe it!

**This chapter has been improved slightly, so... Enjoy!**

**xox **

* * *

_After our talk with the Hokage he led us into his office where food was ready for us. Hastily we ate everything that was put in front of us. After all, running for days it can work up an appetite._

"_Now children, what happened to your village... is now under firm investigation by Konohagakure. We've tried to get to get in contact with your head village, but there seems to be no response" the Hokage told us. "Does your village have have a head of state or anything of the sort?"_

_Haruo swallowed its food "well sorta, but she isn't well... she isn't a person"_

"_Oh... I see" the Hokage answered "you must be talking about your Goddess__ Mitsuko"._

_My brother nodded and continued eating, but as my brother continued to gobble away, I just stared at my plate... I suddenly lost my appetite._

"_Tomoko?" Hokage said "You need to eat..."_

_Haruo gave me a worried glance; he of course knew why I wasn't eating. "It's okay Tomoko-sweostor! Look!" he told me and put the food into his mouth and smiled "hm... yummy!" after he swallowed._

_But that didn't convince me as I just pushed the plate away._

"_I'm sorry Hokage-ágend (Hokage-lord)..." my brother told him sadly "she's just worried about our mother"._

"_Yes of course" Hokage mused "which is what I need to talk about, as we are investigating what happened... I'm afraid you can't return at this moment"._

_This made us both stared at him with wide eyes,"w-what do you mean?" Haruo asked with a stutter._

_The Hokage sighed loudly and took his hat off, "Your village... I'm afraid has been destroyed."_

_This made botwidened cry out in misery, I began crying on my brother's shoulder. He seemed to struggle to find his words, "B-but how?" Haruo sputtered._

_The Hokage closed his eyes for a second, as if he was trying to figure how to word his sentence "The team working there... so far have not found any survivors"._

_I was pratically bawling now, __the thought of my mother completely crushed under the rubble of our small house._

"_Now I know that this is very difficult to hear, but I am not giving up hope for you or for anyone in your village. Since your head village has not been in contact, I as the Hokage would like to ask you stay in Konohagakure __where we can look after you and keep you safe"._

"_So... we're going to be living here?" Haruo asked. I became silence, staring back up at the elderly man front of me._

_The Hokage nodded "at least until we get further information on what happened, which could take a while since there was a lot of damage."_

"_So..." Haruo began "where will we be staying?"_

_At this The Hokage gave us a small smile "since we don't know the nature of the attack, I feel it is best you stay with our very own police force"._

_And with that, the office door and in walked a very tall man who looked in his mid-thirties. He had stern onyx eyes with visible creases underneath, his brown short hair fell in either side of his face. He also wore a black robe with gray pants. After him a boy who looked about Haruo's age walked in behind the tall man. I assumed that they were family because like the tall man he had onyx eyes with creases; the only difference was that he was of course much younger and he had long, dusty black hair that was tied into a ponytail with his bangs either side of his head._

_He was ridulously handsom, so much so I could feel my checks heat up slightly. He was so calm and collective, he almost looked like a painting, only it moved._

"_Ah! Good morning Fugaku!" chimed the Hokage "and I see you brought your oldest son along"._

_Both Fugaku and his son bowed slightly "Hokage-Sama..." Fugkau began "are you sure this is a good idea? They could be spies of the enemy..."_

_Well that was rude._

"_Now Fugaku, they are only children and have been through a lot. We cannot just cast them away with nowhere to go." The Hokage explained._

"_But..."_

"_Fugaku..." The Hokage interrupted "the children are right next to you"._

_Immediately both men's heads turned to us. Fugaku gave us a stunned look, but he wasn't the on who I had my attention on, I once again laid my eyes it was his son. He stared at me back, as if he was analyzing me... yet out of all the men I'd met so far, I couldn't bring myself to be scared of him._

"_Oh my..." Fugaku gasped "I never imagined them to be so young!"_

_The Hokage nodded "Tomoko here is the same age as your youngest son"._

_The Son then stepped in front of us "so Tomoko is your name..." stated the young boy. I nodded, he then turned to my brother "and you?"_

"_Haruo... her brother"._

_Fugaku sighed heavily, "alright, I'll personally take them in m__yself. I'm sure my wife will be thrilled to have a little girl in house"._

_The boy glanced at his father, with an unreadable expression._

_I slipped out a tiny whimper, I wanted to say something to this boy. But once again, my words failed me._

_Although, as quiet at my whimper was, it still caught they boy's attention. His expression completely changed, and __gave us a small smile "my name's Itachi, my clan will be looking after you during your stay" he then turned back to me, his features now kind and gentle "that is, if it is okay with you Tomoko-Chan?"_

_I found myself not being so scared anymore... so I returned the smile and nodded._

* * *

"Listen Naruto! You've already failed two exams beforehand, How do you expect to graduate if you keep pulling pranks!" Iruka-Sensei lectured.

From hearing his voice it brought me out of my day-dream. _'Did I zone out that much? I didn't even hear them come in'_.

All Naruto had to reply to that was a pout and turn his face, which caused a vein to pop out of Iruka-Sensei's head.

"Right that's it!" he yelled and turned to the rest of the class "we are going to have a review test for the transformation technique!" he announced "those who have already passed will have to line up as well!"

Immediately the class was filled with moans and groans from the other students,but they all obeyed his command. Followed by Hinata, I stepped in line and watched each person take their turn in performing the technique, first up was Sakura.

"Haruno Sakura, going! Transform!" and with that there was a puff of smoke and there stood an exact reflection of Iruka-Sensei.

Sensei gave her a nod of approval and marked down on his clip board.

There was another puff of smoke and Sakura was back to herself again "I did it!" she squealed "did you see that Sasuke-Kun?"

I rolled my eyes at her behaviour, me and her never got along. It was because she had this idiotic theory, that I secretly was in love with Sasuke, but he would never look at me when she was around... or something like that. The harsh truth was, and I'm not sure this will ever get through Sakura's thick skull, is that Sasuke didn't crush on anyone, and I mean anyone! He definitely didn't like boys and he seem to have no interest in having a girlfriend.

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Without a word, Sasuke accomplished the technique flawlessly as he appeared as a photo perfect Iruka-Sensei.

"All right!" Iruka said proudly and jotted down some notes. Sasuke changed back and started walking back to his seat.

"Next Uzumaki Naruto!"

I threw a cheeky smile towards Hinata to see her face as red as crimson. "So when are you gonna get the guts to have a real conversation with him?"

Hinata looked at me as if she'd been told her death "I-I-I er well... I-I d-don't know, I'm to... I can't!"

I raised an eyebrow at her "Hinata, this is Naruto we're talking about..." But as soon as Hinata started her answer, Naruto yelled transform and through the swirling smoke, was nude female version of Naruto winking at Iruka-Sensei, who of course turned deadly pale and fell backwards with blood spurting out his nose.

"HAHAHAHA" Naruto cried with laughter after he changed back to normal "How was that? I call it my sexy no justu!"

I could feel a wet drop on the side of my head, as Iruka-Sensei started shouting at Naruto. "And you're the one who has a crush on him" I told Hinata with a giggle.

"Mori Tomoko!"

"wha..." I then noticed that I was next, I guess the three in front of me already went. As I stepped forward I heard a boy yell good luck which made me frown... this justu isn't that hard.

"Transform!" and like everyone else I changed into Iruka-Sensei.

"Very nice Tomoko!" Iruka told me with a smile.

I changed back into myself "thanks Sensei!" and went to walk back to my seat.

"that was great Tomoko-San!" one boy chimed as the rest agreed.

"Er... thanks but it really wasn't that much of a big deal" I told them coolly "besides, I think Naruto's was waybetter!"

From hearing his name Naruto made a loud "huh" and pointed at himself as if to say 'who me?'.

"Yes you..." I told him with a chuckle "that was the aim though right? To make fun of this boring excercise? I mean no one else thought to do what you did."

Naruto gave me a blank look but quickly recovered "of course it was! Haha" he replied scratching the back of his head.

I could sense the other boys jealous gaze upon him, honestly they could be as bad as the girls sometimes.

I returned to my seat, patiently waiting for Hinata, who had just finished her justu. "So, ready for tomorrow?" I asked her as she took a seat.

Hinata pushed her index fingers togehpther, a habit she had developed over the years, "I don't think I'll ever feel ready for this".

I stared at her, concerned, "is your dad giving you hard time again?"

Hinata rested her head in her palm as she leaned on the desk, "he's always giving me a hard time".

For some reason, her shyness wasn't so bad when it was just me and her. Maybe it was because we were really comfortable around each other. I met Hinata not long after I started at the academy, I remember finding her sitting alone in the corner. Around this time I was still friends with Sasuke, but for some reason he was absent that day, and since every girl in my class hated me, I took the plunge and went to talk to her. Turned out she wasn't interested in Sasuke at all... It was a certain Orange dressed ninja.

I sighed slightly "Hinata, at least give yourself a little credit. I'm sure you'll do fine".

She gave me a shy smile "thanks Tomoko-chan, so what about you? How are you feeling about tomorrow?"

I shrugged "I guess I'm feeling confident about it, I know it's not a written exams which is a plus. Having your brother as a ninja is a plus".

Hinata shook her head, "you do realise that the test changes every year".

"Of course" I answered "but I know for a fact it's not a written exam... I think... Maybe..."

Hinata started to giggle at my sudden change of heart, great... Now my confidences was shot.

* * *

It wad the day of the final Genin exam, and now thanks to Hinata, I was a nervous wreck. So when it was announced that we would be tested on our replication justu, it was a mega relief. Well... For most of us anyway.

Because as I on my way into the examination room, I saw Naruto huffing and groaning about something. It was no secret that Naruto was the most sharpest tool in the shed, but you could never deny his effort in trying.

Since he still hasn't acknowledged my presence, I decided to make myself known.

"You're not nervous are you?" I asked him.

"Huh? Oh Tomoko... of course not!" he boasted "this will be no sweat for the future Hokage!"

I raised an eyebrow at him "Hokage eh?"

Naruto nodded "that's right! So everyone can appreciate my existence!"

I threw him a puzzled look "you don't think no one does?"

"Well... no, have you seen how the adults treat me?"

Now that I thought about it, none of us really knew the reason Naruto was treated so badly. I'll never understand why because he is an okay guy, he was just a little misunderstood.

"Er... Tomoko, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked as if he was unsure about something.

"Yeah shoot..."

"Well er... why are you talking to me? Not that I don't like it or anything, it's just you're like the only girl that's nice to me."

I was a little stunned at his question... "I guess it's just in my nature" I replied, "if the person has no problem with me, then I have no problem with them."

"Wow!" breathed Naruto, "I wish most girls had the same attitude as you, the rest are just obsessed with Uchiha..." suddenly he stopped his sentence "wait... you don't like..."

"Sasuke?"

Naruto's face looked so panic-stricken I couldn't help but laugh. "Please... I have a lot more things to worry about than romance. Sasuke maybe hansom, but I focus more on the personality than anything else, and let's face it... he isn't exactly personality plus!"

Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head "Yeah I guess you're right!"

"Mori Tomoko!" Iruka-Sensei called "we're ready for you now".

"Well gotta go! See you on the other side yeah?" I told Naruto.

He gave me a thumbs up "Believe it Tomoko-chan! Good luck!"

I gave him one last wave before opening the door and closing it behind me.


	3. Passing on a parent's wish

"Good afternoon Tomoko!" Iruka-Sensei said with a smile.

I nodded stood in one place "Iruka-Sensei, Mizuki-Sensei..."

"Being the top girl of the class, we have high expectations of you Tomoko" Mizuki-Sensei told me with the fakest smile anyone could pull. Don't ask me why, but there was something about Mizuki-sensei that unnerved me.

"I'll do my best..." was all I replied.

"And that's all we ask for Tomoko" Iruka reassured me "whenever you're ready begin the replication justu".

_'Right...'_ I told myself as I formed a hand seal to focus my chakra _'I need at least three replications to pass, start building the chakra...'_

I could feel energy course all the way though my body and fill me up with power, when I gained the right amount of chakra I yelled replication justu and smoke appeared around me. When the smoke cleared, it seemed I managed to make four replicas of myself.

"Er... does doing more than the actual number of replicas count as a fail?" I asked nervously.

This made Iruka chuckle "doing three replicas for someone your age, is considered very difficult, but you have managed to do four. Congrats Tomoko you've passed with flying colours!"

I couldn't stop grinning! Now that I was a genin... I'd be able to receive that gift Haruo mentioned. I got handed my headband and took time to examine it before tying around my waist.

"Thank you both so much!" I cheered as started to walk to the door.

"I'm sure your mother would've been very proud" Mizuki called across the room.

I felt my heart tighten slightly, I try to avoid talking about my mother as much as possible, but in this case, I had to make it brief.

"Yeah I guess... see ya!"

* * *

Later that day, all the graduates stood in the court yard with their parents. Well... I was waiting with Hinata's family for Haruo to arrive.

"Look it's that boy..." I heard someone whisper. I turned my head, along with Hinata who also heard, to see two women whispering to each other.

"he was the only one that didn't pass" whispered the woman. Me and Hinata followed their gaze, which landed on a figure who was sitting on the swing under the old tree. You'd have to be a fool not to recognise the orange outfit.

The over woman cursed under her breath, "Serves him right! If he was to become a ninja, it's only going to cause trouble. Because he's a..."

I couldn't help but feel angered at their disgusting attitude, what did Naruto do to them to make them hate him so much?

"Hey!" the second woman cut in "it's forbidden to say anymore about that!"

"Poor Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered "he always tries so hard".

I took a quick glance at Naruto then back at my best friend "maybe we should try and cheer him up?" I asked her.

"huh? He's gone..." Hinata suddenly said.

I turn back to where Naruto was and surely enough, he was nowhere in sight. _'That's weird... I could have sworn he was there a second ago'_. Suddenly I felt someone lift me in the air and spin me around.

"What the..."

"OH TOMOKO! I JUST KNEW YOU'D PASS! I'M SOO PROUD! I'M THE PROUDEST BIG BROTHER IN THIS COURTYARD!"

As soon as I noticed people beginning to stare, I wiggled out of his grip "Haruo what the hell!"

"Sorry..." he replied bursting out laughing, his eyes twinkling with joy, "but I had to show how please I am for you passing, after all! Its only gonna happen once!"

"Well I really appreciate that Aaron..."

"I know you do little sis!"

I could feel a water drip on the side of my head, "I was being sarcastic..." I mumbled so no one could hear.

"Oh! And congrats to you to Hinata-chan!" My brother chimed at her. Hinata went a little red in the face but mumbled thank you. As Haruo and Hinata continued their small chatter, I found myself scanning the area. A lot of my female classmates was staring at Haruo and giggling amongst themselves, I don't blame them, Haruo is a young, good looking man.

Then my eyes landed on a certain onyx eyed ninja.

I was a little stunned at the fact that Sasuke was staring straight at me, he was all the way at the back of the courtyard, leaning against the wall, just staring at me. Within that moment I saw something in his eyes, like a glimmer of what he use to be...

**"_You are nothing but a nuisance to me... its time you grow up and realise we are not friends anymore."_**

Those past words, were a flashing reminder of why we never look in the others direction, let alone talk to each other.

"Aaron?"

Haruo stopped in mid conversation and stared at me, he then noticed who was behind me and got the hint. "Well... me and Tomoko best be off. We have a lot to discuss yes?"

I nodded my head and gave Hinata a brief goodbye hug before walking with my brother to our home, only he turned the opposite direction.

"Er... Haruo? You're going the wrong way..."

Haruo stopped and turned round to face me, now with a serious expression on his face "I promised that I'd give you something after you graduated... and I'm true to my word, just follow me".

* * *

Strangely enough, me and my brother ended up outside of the Hokage's office. I started to have doubts about this... 'surprise'. Could it have something to do with my mother, did the Village Hidden in the Mountains want us to return?

When I was a child, all I wanted to do was go back. Now... I'd do anything to stay. Can you blame me? Me and Haruo practically grew up here... and we both have friends that we don't want to leave and forget. If we really wanted to return to Yamakure, we would've done that years ago. To be honest, I don't have any memories of anything before the attack, I don't remember my beginning. All I can see is a golden field, the sun, and then fire. People running, screaming, and my mother forcing me and Haruo on the family's horse, and basically sacrificing herself. I figured I hit my head on something and suffered a bit of amnesia, I also believed that my memory would come back in time, it hasn't. But either way... I was comfortable with my life right now and becoming a Ninja can only make things better.

Haruo knocked on the door, and shortly after Enter was called through the door. After opening the door, I saw the Hokage sitting crossed legged on a rug with Iruka-Sensei opposite him.

"Ah Haruo! Tomoko! You came just at the right time, I'd just finished my discussion with Iruka here..."

Iruka stood up and gave the Hokage a bow before walking towards the door. "My Haruo-kun! You've certainly grown since I last saw you!"

Haruo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment "yeah well I've certainly been kept busy since I became a chunin such as yourself".

_'Urge don't remind me...'_ I thought. Don't get me wrong I'm extremely proud of Haruo, but a part of me wishes he didn't have to go on so many missions. He was after all, the only family I had left.

Its selfish I know, but you have to understand. When my brother is gone, he can be gone for a long period of time, which means I have to fend for myself. I can look after myself just fine, it's the loneliness that gets to me. You see, when I was younger, had this fear of being left alone. It was triggered when I found out I was orphaned, since then, I was very protective of Haruo. When he'd leave, I would try and block the front door to stop him, but it never did.

Nowadays, I'm not exactly fearful, but I don't find it particularly comfortable either.

"Have you ever thought of going to the next level Haruo? You'd probably be able to do it..." Iruka told him with a smile.

Haruo returned it "Maybe someday, but I think I'll wait till this little squirt gets a little more adjusted to the ninja life style..." he replied whilst patting the top of my head. I quickly swatted his hand away not wanting to him to mess up my hair.

"Yes of course... well I best be off. Be seeing you" and with that Iruka left.

Myself and Haruo walked till we were standing in front of Hokage-ágend and bowed out of respect.

"Please sit down... we have much to discuss" he told us. Obeying his command I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"I'm... I'm I in trouble Hokage-ágend?"

This caused him to chuckle "certainly not young one, just for filling a parents' wishes" he explained whilst standing up and walking towards one of his many cupboards. I shot a look at Haruo who's sight was dead on Hokage-ágend.

"Wait..." I suddenly realised "are you talking about my mother!?"

The Hokage didn't reply, instead he turned around with a large case like box which had a note stuck on the top of it.

"What's that?"

Hokage-ágend placed it on the floor in front of me and sat back down "it's something your mother wanted you to have..."

"But how?" I questioned

Haruo turned slightly to look at me "Mother told me to give it to you when you built up enough strength and skill. Since you are now a genin, I figured now would be the right time."

I briefly looked at my brother and back at the box and ripped off the note, it was from my mother...

**Tomoko...**

**I am deeply sorry for not being able to give this to you personally myself. But now you're reading this I know that it's a sign that you are getting stronger every day. These are to give the protection you and your loved ones need against your enemies and to help further your combat skills...**

**Use them wisely**

**Your mother**

I scan read the note again before putting it in my pocket. Whatever was in this case... was suppose to protect me? From what?

Slowly I opened to the case to see a pair of... shiny, metal vambraces. After taking one out of the case I examined it's beauty. They weren't shaped like the traditional Shinobi vanbraces that I had seen, in fact, the design was like nothing I'd never seen before! However, it was definitely made in the mountains, because all around it, was ancient ascriptions of the goddess Mistuko. The metal felt as hard as a steel sword, yet as light as a feather. On each side, just below the elbow, a pair of golden like stones were carved in for extra protection and the metal itself had a slight green tint to it.

"These were mother's?" I asked Haruo.

"I never saw her wear them, all she said was that they were made especially for you" he answered.

I threw him a puzzled look "but why?"

"Tomoko" The Hokage cut in "you're asking your brother questions he just doesn't have answers to, we are simply filling the task your mother set upon us... I'm afraid we know no details as to why".

I nodded my head and stared at the vanbrace again; slowly I started to slip it into my hand and started to tie it. The metal finished at my elbow but had an extra leather strap to tie around my Humerous (the part of my arm above the elbow). I then did the same to the other arm and examined them.

For a pair of metal do-dads, they were pretty comfortable... almost like a clove. "Shiny!" I mused which caused Haruo to laugh.

"So... how are they suppose to protect me?"

Haruo then turned serious "even if I knew Tomoko... I probably couldn't tell you. It's one of them things you'll have to find out on your own."


	4. Team seven! Assemble!

_Me and Haruo followed closely behind Fugaku and Itachi through the streets of __Konohagakure. As we were both walking behind them, we couldn't help but notice the symbol on both their backs._

"_er... Kugaku-Sepia?" Haruo spoke, which caused the older man to look back slightly with an "hm?" escaping his lips._

"_Well... I wanted to ask you about the symbol on your backs... if I'm mistaken, I'd say it were a fan of some sorts?"_

_Fugaku smirked slightly "you have sharp eyes young one. Yes the symbol on our backs is indeed a fan; it's actually an Uchiwa fan. Because the fan is a tool to help create fire, or in this case... make it bigger is a perfect symbolisation of what the Uchiha clan is."_

"_So... fire and the Uchiha clan are somewhat linked?"_

"_Yes" Fugaku answered "many members of our clan are fire jutsu users... both myself and Itachi can use it."_

_We both looked at Itachi in utter shock... he barely look over the age of nine yet he can already use a fire justu! _

"_Right here we are!" Fugaku suddenly announced. In front of us now was a large archway with the Uchiha symbol showing proudly. But that's not all that was in front of us. Standing in the archway, was a woman with long black hair, onyx eyes and a kind smile, with a little boy who looked just like her. Only he had short, spiky hair, and long bangs on either side of his head._

"_Children..." Fuguaku spoke as we finally approached the entrance, "this is my wife Mikoto and my youngest son Sasuke"._

_Mikoto kneeled down to mine and Haruo's level which caused me to hide behind my brother slightly. "Hello there... you have nothing to fear little one" she told me with a gentle expression._

_This somewhat made me feel reassured, so I came out from behind my brother, but still clinged to his arm._

"_I'm Haruo!" my brother chimed "and this is Tomoko, I'm afraid she isn't talking at the moment"._

"_I see..." muttered Mikoto she looked behind at her youngest son "Sasuke, come and say hello"._

_Tomoko studied the boy as he stepped forward shyly, he had a very innocent look to him and to any grown woman... he'd be a cutie pie. But if anything, he would grow to be a very handsome young man, like his older brother was beginning to turn into. It seemed good looks also ran within the Uchiha family._

"_Er... hi?" he slowly let escape his lips. I stared at him blankly._

"_Oh right you're not talking..." he mumbled more to himself "is this better?" he asked whilst holding his hand out to me._

_I was a little surprised at his gesture, but kinda happy. He was really the only one who was making an effort to talk to me (apart from his brother of course), where as the grownups either talked to me as if I was stupid, or not talk to me at all!_

_At first a hesitated... but when I saw that little smile on his face, I couldn't help but smile back, grab his hand and shake it. Haruo looked at me a little stunned that I was suddenly interacting with this boy, who I just met. _

"_Sasuke, why don't take Tomoko to play somewhere?" his mother suggested. _

_Sasuke smiled up at her and then back at me "Yeah sure! You wanna come play Tomoko-Chan?"_

_I looked at my brother silently asking for his permission, to which he told me to go have fun._

"_Great! Come on Tomoko-Chan!" Sasuke yelled in excitement and dragged me through the Uchiha quarter of the village._

* * *

The sound of my alarm clock echoed through my room and woke me from my slumber. Groggily, I wacked the alarm to switch it off and sat up. Whilst yawning, I stretched my arms as far as they would go then slowly got out of bed to get ready.

It was finally the day the newly announced Genin, would be put into teams of three and meet their Jonin sensei.

After showering and putting on my clothes, I sat down at my dresser, and began to quickly brush my hair. Whilst doing this I began to wonder who would be in my team. It could be anyone in my class. A part of me just wished that I wouldn't teamed up with Sakura or Ino... or Sasuke.

My ideal team would probably be Hinata and Naruto funnily enough, cause then it would give her the chance to get to know him a little better, rather than just watching him from a distance. But that can't happen because he didn't graduate.

As I put my hair brush down, my gaze shifted to the vanbraces that were given to me three days ago. Would it be practical to wear them today? I highly doubted I would be going on any missions.

But a part of me wanted to show them off, they did look pretty cool on my arms. Giving in, I started to tie them on. Looking one last time in the mirror, I headed downstairs, and walked out of my bedroom door.

"Ah wait a minute!" I yelled rushing back into my room. I rushed over to my dresser, scolding myself forgetting it. In my hands I cradled my new shinobi headband. For a moment I contemplated on wear to tie it, ideally, you tie it around you forehead. But the headband was pretty heavy, and I didn't exactly want to deal with that on my head. So I decided to tie it around my waistline like I did before.

"There we go!" I gazed at myself in the mirror, the headband just fitted around my waist. I was now ready to take on the world as a Genin!

* * *

I walked into the classroom and immediately saw Hinata "Hey Hina... what are you staring at?"

Hinata turned round to face me "oh good morning Tomoko... I w-was e-er... I was..." since I was getting nowhere with her stuttering, I looked into the direction where she was staring and noticed a certain yellow-haired boy talking to Skikamaru...

"No way..." I whispered then smiled "Naruto graduated!"

"It seems so..." Hinata mumbled cheerfully.

"I'm gonna go talk to him... you coming?"

Hinata gave me a look of death take vigorously shook her head back and forth.

"Hinata... he isn't going to bite you know. I'll let you off this time, but I will get you to talk to him" I told her before walking to the other side of the room.

"How should I say this..." I heard him say "This looks really good on me eh?"

"Well look who showed up" I called walking towards him and Skikamaru.

Naruto looked up and grinned "Oh Tomoko-Chan! Look! Look! Iruka-Sensei gave me a second chance!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at him, "I knew you could do it! Oh hey Skikamaru". Skikamarua replied with a very lazy wave and went to sit in a seat.

"Hey, hey Tomoko-Chan? Can I ask for your opinion?" Naruto asked nearly jumping out of his seat.

"Er... yeah okay go ahead".

"Do you think wearing this headband, makes me look more hansom? Do you think Sakura-Chan will like it?"

I raised my eyebrow at him, I wasn't sure whether to be honest and say he looked no different, or lie to make him feel better, but remember that this was Naruto.

"Well..."

But I was suddenly cut off my Sakura and Ino barging into the classroom yelling Goal.

"I win again, Sakura" puffed Ino.

Sakura glared at her "what are you talking about? My toe entered the class before yours by a centimetre!"

_'Weren't they best friends once?'_ I asked myself and notice Naruto practically drool from the mouth at the sight of the pink-haired Kunoichi. Then speaking of devil she looked over into mine and Naruto direction and pulled a face of excitement.

For a split second I (like Naruto), thought she was staring at him, so he got up and waved at her, But then that theory flew out the window, when she charged over and practically knocked poor Naruto out of his seat.

"Good morning Sasuke-Kun..." she spoke softly trying to be cute, which made me roll my eyes.

Of course it was Sasuke she was looking at.

Sasuke glanced at her from the corner of his eyes but said nothing, as usual.

"May I sit next to you?" she asked him sweetly.

Honestly I don't know why she tries, he couldn't care less what she did. The fact that he even glanced at her was probably a vast improvement.

"Hey!" Ino snapped whilst grabbing Sakura's arm "I'm going to sit next to him!"

This cause Sakura to throw her the dirtiest look she could muster "first comes first served!"

"I came in the classroom before you!" Ino shrieked.

"No I did!"

Suddenly a girl with massive pig tails walked past me, "I was here before both of you so I'm sitting next to Sasuke-Kun!".

"NO I AM!" another girl yelled.

_'You've got to be kidding me...'_ was the only thought that rang in my head. I went to go back to my seat, only to be met by a herd of girls, bickering amongst each other giving me no way out!

"Can you please get out of my way!" I yelled, but the other girls were so loud I was drowned out.

Suddenly Naruto was on the desk that Sasuke was sitting at, and glared him right in the face, which caused Sasuke to glare right back.

_'something bad is going to happen'_ I Thought.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screeched "Stop staring at Sasuke-Kun!"

But Naruto blatantly ignored her and I swear, if looks could kill both boys would be rotting corpses.

The girls barked orders at Sasuke to beat him up, as they both continued to glare draggers at each other, till a boy in front stood up and knocked Naruto forward.

All the girls were rendered speechless... as they witness Naruto and Sasuke in an accidental lip lock.

_'uh-oh...'_

Both boys immediately pulled away and started spluttering.

"Naruto..." Sasuke choked "I'm going to kill you!"

"urgh... I think I need a dental wash!" Naruto cried but then stopped and muttered something about sensing danger.

Following Naruto's gaze, every single girl looked like they wanted to slaughter him.

"I-It was an accident!"

"Your annoying!" Sakura growled and like a pack of wild animals, they began to beat him to a bloody pulp. Admitedly, it was kind of funny to watch at first, but it was starting to get a bit out of hand.

_'Okay that's it!'_ I told myself. As Sakura was going to give Naruto a right hook, I managed to step in front and catch her fist firmly in my hand.

"What the?" she then tried to yank of hand away, but I was stronger than her by miles.

"I think he gets the point" I told her calmly, whilst still holding her fist tightly, "it was accident, get over it!" I then released her hand which caused her to stumble back slightly.

It was then one of the girls pointed out my vambrace, which funnily enough (without me realizing) caught Sasuke's attention.

I ignored the stares I was getting and walked back to where Hinata was.

"Tomoko-chan, er..."

"I'm okay Hinata, don't worry" I reassured her, sitting down on her left.

"That was so cool!" I heard a boy from behind me, which in turn, caused a wet drop to form, and hang my head low.

"I can't wait to get out of here" I grumbled, causing Hinata to giggle quietly.

And as if on cue, Iruka-Sensei walked in and told everyone to take their seats. It seems in the end Sakura did get to sit next to Sasuke, but also Naruto. I was sat two rows above them, on the right of the second middle row.

Iruka cleared his throat "Starting today, you are all officially ninjas, but you are all still new Genins. It's going to get harder from here. Now usually you all would be in a group of three, where you complete missions under the command of a Jounin teacher. However... due to the slight uneven number of graduates, one group will be a four."

I wasn't surprised that Genin level ninja worked in groups of three, Haruo told me all about it. But not once have I heard four Genin man cell.

"We've arranged the groups such as that overall abilities are equivalent" Iruka continued "I will now announce them!"

At this point I sorta switched off and started admiring my vambraces again. I must of been out of it for ages, because Iruka-Sensei already reached number seven.

"Seventh group!" he announced "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura..." at this Naruto stood up with his fists in the air and started cheering. Sakura on the other hand had her head hung low.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." with that being said, Naruto and Sakura's roles seemed to reverse, so now she was cheering and he had his head low.

"and Mori Tomoko!"

My head snapped up "what?"

"WHAT!" Sakura scream.

Iruka stopped reading for a moment "Sakura, is there a problem?"

"YES! Why is she in our team!"

_'jeez... thanks for that Sakura...'_

"Yeah and why am I on Sasuke's team!" Naruto spat.

Iurka gave a loud sigh "you four stay briefly behind at the end and I'll tell you".

As the announcing went on, it turns out Hinata was teamed with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. I felt kinda sorry for her since she didn't really talk to them. And much to Ino's annoyance, she was teamed with this year's laziest student, Nara Skikamaru and this year's fattest student, Akimichi Chouji.

After everyone one left, myself, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stayed behind. The three of them stayed in their seats, whilst I walked down and was standing on Naruto's side.

"Iruka-Sensei! Why is a top student like me in a group with this guy!" Naruto bellowed.

Iruka sighed "Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. And you, Naruto, had the low scores. This happens because we want to evenly divide abilities between the groups."

"Try and keep up dunce!" Sasuke shot in aiming it at the orange clothed ninja, which cause him to nearly throw a fit.

"But what about Tomoko?" Sakura asked.

"Out of the females, both you and Tomoko were the highest and the lowest in the class. So basically, out of the two of you, Sakura, you came out with the highest scores in the written exam, showing that you are the smartest in the class. Tomoko however, struggled because initially, she and her brother were late beginners at the academy". But Sakura was still confused.

"I couldn't read when I started here, and I'm still not a hundred percent perfect, I struggle occasionally" I told her with a sigh.

Immediately she shut up, "However" Iruka continued, "Sakura, you lack in physical abilities and have bad endurance. Whilst Tomoko, could very easily give Sasuke a run for his money, as they both have the same Charka level and she passed all physical tests."

It wasn't till then I realized that Sasuke, had been glancing at me since he started to talk about Sakura's mental skill, every time his eyes would dart from my face and... you guessed it, my vanbrace. Afterwards we were dismissed for lunch and the four of us walked out the classroom.

"You... You really couldn't read Tomoko-Chan?" Naruto asked me.

I turned to face him and noticed that Sakura was too waiting for answer. Sasuke... well he already knew this...

"Well, I could read, I just couldn't the lanuage" I said simply.

"The language? What do you mean?" He pressed.

"You mean you don't know?" I asked him. Naruto looked at me completely clueless, so explained to him how I was not originally from the Konohagakure and was born from the Mountain Country, Yamakure.

"hmmm" mused Naruto "I've never heard of it."

I shrugged "not many people have, anyway, back to my point, we are taught to read our own language, lets call it... Yamkureism for the more modern tongue".

"So, can you say something in Yamakureism then?" He asked shyly.

I smiled "dægræd Naruto-cnihtcild, hū ræd ēower hælp? That was 'morning Naruo-kun, how is you health'. It really formal, and nowadays kind of rare to speak, due to the fact that modern tongue is now the norm".

Naruto seemed in awe, telling me I sound completely different.

"So... why aren't you still there then? If you're from Yamakure, shouldn't you be with your people" Sakura asked rather snobbishly. This caused me to narrow my eyes slightly, but as I was about to snap at her, someone beat me to it.

"Quit being nosy Sakura! It's annoying" Sasuke told her coldly. Both Naruto and Saukra had shocked faces, hell even I was stunned.

Sasuke then started walking off, with Sakura chasing after him and Naruto not far behind her. I wasn't really in the mood to play cat and mouse, so I went the other direction to find somewhere to eat.


	5. Meeting the Jounin sensei

I was sitting in a random classroom that I found, eating my lunch. I thought back at what happened with Sasuke, some what sticking up for me; if you could even call it defending for someone.

If that were to happen four years ago, I would have considered it as him supporting his friend. But now? I have no idea... he has yet to directly say one word to me. But reasons would he have to talk to me?

_'You're on the same team, remember?'_

Oh right, thanks brain for giving me back to my harsh reality. Although I understand why this team was put together, I can't exactly say that I'm happy about it. I mean, I'm in the same team with the most annoying girl in the world!

And of course, there was Mr personality plus himself, who doesn't give a damn about anyone. Being on the same team as him, this was either rally bad karma, or my Goddness wants to punish me!

And speak of the devil, not a second after I'd finish eating, he happened to charge into the room.

"Fucking girl!" he muttered under his breath whilst leaning his weight on the desk. well, I can only guess what he who he was talking about. He then halted his actions, he must of finallynoticed me in the room, because he turned round and gave me an emotionless stare.

"What are you doing here?"

I examined my nails with a bored expression "I could ask you the same thing..."

"Naruto's stupidly and Sakura's insolence!" he stated simply.

Yep, I was right, one point for me!

"Well get use to it" I told him, "you gonna have to deal with it for a long time".

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. Since I figured he wasn't going to say anything else I went to leave, because I knew I defiantly did not want to talk to him anymore.

"Where'd you get those?" he suddenly asked referring to the vambraces. I turned back to face him and threw him the dirtiest look I could muster, then carried on out the door.

"What? You're not speaking to me now?" Sasuke stated cooly, which kinda pushed me over the edge.

I hastily turned to face him for the second time "That's what you told me to do remember?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes "what the hell are you talking about?"

This caused me to laugh, but not the kind of laugh you're thinking "Really Sasuke? You're a class act! Unless its mission related don't even think off speaking to me!" and with that I stormed off.

* * *

When it came time to meet our Jounin teacher I was still pretty steamed at Sasuke, I can't believe he's playing the clueless card with me! He know exactly what he did and if he thinks I'm gonna forgive and forget because we're on the same team, he has another thing coming.

Everyone except our team had met their Jounin teacher and left, it had now been two hours and I was beginning to believe that this guy probably forgot or something.

"He's late!" Naruto moaned.

I was really tempted to say, _'no shit sherlock'_ but I kept my mouth shut, since I was already in a foul mood. The fact that our sensei was nowhere in sight wasn't helping the situation either.

"Naruto, why won't you sit still?" Sakura asked not trying to sound irritated. At the moment Naruto had his head stuck out the door, looking left and right down the long hallway. Sakura was leaning against one of the student desks. Sasuke was sat down, as usual with his hands linked. And I was leaning against the wall near the black board.

"But why is the teacher for our seventh group the only one late?" Naruto whined. "All the other groups went somewhere with their new senseis already and... even Iruka-Sensei has gone home!"

"That's not important" Sakura mumbled, but Naruto didn't seem to pay any mind to her, as he rushed to the black board and grabbed one of the erasers.

"What are you doing now?" I asked him as he ran back towards the door. But all he told me to do was watch, he proceeded to stand on a stool and put the eraser in between the doorframe and the door.

Sakura walked over to him with her hands on her hips. "It's his own fault for being late" said Naruto innocently as he could and he jumped off the stool.

"Geez" Sakura hissed "it's your own fault if you get into trouble!"

I could feel a wet drop form on my head _'you little liar'_ I thought seeing through her act, _'you want it to happen just as bad!'_

Sasuke made a ahem sound "A jounin isn't going to fall for a stupid trick like that."

"Yeah! Naruto, you're so stupid!" Sakura quickly agreed.

Naruto groaned then turned to me "what about you Tomoko... admit it, it would be funny?"

I gave him a small smile "yes it would, but I'm gonna have to agree with the others. I'd be slightly worried if he fell for it!"

But as I was talking, a hand suddenly appeared at the door which caught everyone's attention. The person pulled the door to and to my surprise and horror, fell right into the trap as the eraser bounced off his head and onto the ground.

I couldn't believe he fell for it! I would've have laughed along with Naruto, but I couldn't help but feel doomed if we had a rubbish sensei.

"I'm so sorry Sensei! I tried to stop him but Naruto-Kun didn't listen to me!" Sakura said in a panic.

"You little lick arse!" I snapped "bullshit you tried to stop him!"

Sasuke just glared at him, probably thinking what I was thinking... how is this guy a Jounin?

Now that he fully came into the classroom and picked up the eraser, I started to notice what he looked like, well... Kinda.

He had spiked up, messy silver hair which was held upright by his ninja headband. All that could be seen of his face was his right eye which was a steely black, everything else was covered by is headband over his eye, and a mask over his noise, which went all the way down to his neck; it was probably all one shirt. He outfit was your typical Jounin outfit, the navy blue sweater, black pants, green ninja vest and blue sandals.

He looked as if he was ready to fall asleep, or that he just rolled out of bed, which I wouldn't put past him.

Our Sensei examined the eraser for a second; whilst he did this I walked over to the others and waited for him to speak.

"Hm... how should I say this..." he said lazily and put his hand on his chin thinking "My first impressions of you guys are..."

I could feel everyone's curiosity to what he was going to say. But I'll honestly say, I think it was a super downer for everyone when he said...

"I hate you"

* * *

A couple of minutes later, the five of us, along with our new sensei, where sitting on the roof of the academy with us four on the steps and our sensei leaning against the rails opposite us.

"Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves" Our sensei told us.

"Introduce yourselves?" Sakura questions "What should we say?"

"Your name for a start" I shot back full of sarcasm. She gave me a heated glare before Sensei continued.

"Well... What you like, what you hate, your dreams and hobbies. Something like that".

"Hey, hey why don't you go first sensei?" Naruto suggested.

"Me?" he asked pointing to himself "I am Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream..." I he pondered for a second "I have a few hobbies".

"Well that was a complete waste of time" I whispered.

"Yeah..." Sakura agreed "we only found out his name".

"Now it's your turn!" Kakashi announced "You first" nodding his head to Naruto.

Naruto grinned and started to play with his headband "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like cups of ramen, But I like the ramen at Ichirkua that Iruka-Sensei brought me more! I hate the three minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water in. My Hobby is to eat and compare cup ramen".

_'Good lady of Light I'm surprised he hasn't turned into a ramen noodle cause of the amount he eats'_ I thought to myself.

"And my dream is to become greater than the Hokages! I'm going to make all the villagers recognize me for my existence!"

Kakashi was clearly not very impressed, probably the only thing that went through his head was ramen this, ramen that. "Alright... next!" he said looking at Sakura.

"I'm Haruno Sakura!" she chimed "I like... well the person I like is..." she then stopped and kept stealing glances towards Sasuke.

_'You've got to be kidding me!'_ I thought boredly

"And my hobby is... well, my dream is to..." and then squealed as she must have thought of something in that massive head of hers.

"And? What do you hate?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura then turned moody and said one word.

"Naruto!"

I watched as Naruto was practically crying silently at what she said.

"Okay..." Kakashi said a little freaked out "second girl..."

"Oh... er..." I hadn't really planned out what I was going to say. "Well... My name is Mori Tomoko, I really like animals, especially horses." Hey I wasn't lying, I actually had a pony when I lived back in Yamakure. "I hate most girls my age, they're incredibly annoying and always judge me." I managed to earn another glare from Sakura but like I even cared. "My hobbies... I guess praying, reading and cooking would hit the nail on the head and my dream... erm..."

Thinking about it now what was my dream? My dream was to make it out of the academy, now that I've done that...

"I guess... To try and give back what the village has done for me, and find out what happened to my village and my mother".

Kakashi gave me a apologetic look, did he know what happened or something? There was someone else who was staring at me also, I could feel those onyx eyes bare into the back of my head.

Of course Sasuke knew about my mother and the village, I mourned for weeks after she was confirmed dead. At that time, Sasuke was really the only one there for me, since Haruo was busy at the academy. A part of me wishes he still was because I still haven't fully healed. Don't get me wrong, I'm much happier now and have settled quite nicely here, but not a day goes by I wonder why my own village was attacked and why I was given these vambraces.

I have no memory the events that transpired before the attack and memories of my mother are vague. Haruo told me that my memory loss was mostly caused by the fact I was so young, not of because of any mental trauma. Either way, a huge part of my life was missing, so when I am ready, I will go searching for it.

"Alright... last guy".

All of us turned to Sasuke and waited for him to start. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate, and not a lot of things I like. Also I have an ambition that I have no intention of leaving it as a dream." I knew exactly where he was going with this, and broke my heart every time I heard it.

"The revival of my clan, and to... kill a certain man".

An uncomfortable silence was met afterwards, I wondered what was going through his head. Sasuke never told me why he was spared from the mass murder of his clan, in fact he didn't talked to me at all after the massacre. In a way, the Sasuke I knew did die that day, the little boy that was my best friend I'll never see again.

A part of me wonders if the massacre never happened, would we still be friends? And would he have this emotionless attitude?

And of course there was the murderer himself, I tried not to think about him so much, because it was hard to believe that the same, gentle boy I'd met went I came here, could mercilessly kill his clan.

**"_The hardest one's to love are the ones who need it most"_** is what my mother always told us, but ever since the massacre and Sasuke changing, I found that hard to believe.

"Alright..." Kakashi spoke "you all have unique personalities, I like that. We are going to be starting a mission tomorrow."

Naruto then got really excited and did a salute "What kind of mission is that, sir!"

"First, we are going to do something we five can do..." Kakashi stated.

This only amplified Naruto's excitement more "what, what, what! What is it!"

Kakashi stared at us a little longer "Survival training".

All four of us looked at him as if he had several heads...

"Survival training?" Naruto repeated.

Sakura was the first to ask "why are we going to train when it's a mission?" She then proceeded to bang on about how we already had training at the academy.

"This is no ordinary training" Kakashi answered.

"Then what kind of training is it?" I asked raising an eyebrow. That one question cause Kakashi-sensei to start laughing, which made Sakura ask what was so funny.

"Well..." he mused "if I say this, I think you four are going to be surprised". We all just stared at him blankly, wondering what he was on about.

"Out of the twenty seven graduates, only nine or ten students are going to become Genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this training is going to be a hard test with a dropout rate of sixty six percent."

I could tell the others weren't exactly impressed, but I do recall Haruo mentioning something about it when he became a Genin.

I listen in on my brother's conversations way too much.

"See? You're all surprised!" Kakashi yelled like a kid in a candy shop.

"NO WAY! I ALREADY WENT THROUGH SO MUCH TROUBLE PASSING, THEN WHAT WAS THAT STUPID FINAL EXAM FOR!?" Naruto demanded.

"Oh that? It basically just picks those who are qualified to become Genin. Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail at the training grounds. Bring your ninja equipment and meet me a five am."

_'Geez five am! Haruo doesn't even get up that early!'_ was all I could think. Looks like I'm getting an early night tonight.

"Okay, meetings over. Oh yeah! And don't eat breakfast... or you'll throw up" and with that he disappeared.


	6. Why Tomoko can't read

_"Sasuke... can you please call Tomoko for dinner?" Mother asked me gently._

_I nodded in response and headed to the garden. Once out there I saw her sat on the ground Indian style, eyes closed and muttering something under her breath. I couldn't really make out what she was saying but I've seen her do this a couple of times._

_It's been about two months since Tomoko-chan and Haruo-kun moved in with us, now Haruo is working hard to become a ninja so he can become Tomoko-chan's guardian. Not that he didn't appreciate us, but I think he just didn't want to rely on my family all the time._

_"Er... Tomoko-Chan?" Immediately she stopped and turned to look at me. "Sorry to interrupt but... dinner is ready."_

_She gave me a sweet smile, then got up on her feet and without a word, went inside to the kitchen. I couldn't help but sigh, Tomoko still hadn't said a single word and was beginning to worry my mother._

_My father, was a little more understanding about the situation. In his own words, he would say "the girl lost everything, I wouldn't want to talk to either". That was my dad for you, straight to the point, brutal honesty._

_I soon followed her inside and sat at our table along with Father and Mother. "Where's Nii-san and Haruo-kun?"_

_"Itachi is on a mission... and I'm not sure about Haruo" my Father answered "do you know anything Tomoko?"_

_But all Tomoko did was shake her head back and forth, pretty much saying she had no idea. My mother looked at her from across the table with concern. Slowly, she put down her chop sticks and linked her hands on the table._

_"Tomoko-chan?" she softly called "why don't you talk?"_

_I glanced at Mother then at Tomoko who was sat next to me, as usual she didn't say a word but continued eating._

_Fugaku sighed loudly, "are you really going to do this Mikoto?" He asked, clearly annoyed._

_"Tomoko-chan..." mother whispered, not taking any notice of my father, "it's been two months, and all of us are really worried about you"._

_"Oka-san..." echoed a voice from the hallway "she sleeping and eating well, I'm sure when Tomoko feels ready she'll speak". I looked in the direction and saw my brother walk through._

_"Nii-San!" I yelled excitedly and went to hug him. Even though he never really hugged back, he occasionally put his hand on my head._

_I let go of my brother and looked up at him, he was looking at Tomoko with a small smile. "Right? Tomoko-Chan?" She didn't answer him, instead she pressed her lips together then carried on eating. _

_"Itachi? Why are you home so early?" Father asked._

_Itachi Shrugged "we completed the mission quicker than expected"._

_"But wasn't it a B rank?" Father asked, Itachi didn't say anything and started eating which caused my father to smirk "as expected of my son"._

_Suddenly the sound of the front door came through the house "I'm back!" Haruo called._

_As Haruo walked in the kitchen my mother stood up and placed her hands on her hips "and why were you out so late Haruo-Kun!? I was starting to get worried!" my mother told him crossly._

_Haruo nervously scratched the back of his head "Ah sorry, sorry... I guess I lost track of time"._

_Mother wasn't convinced "just what were you doing? The academy finished hours ago!"_

_Haruo threw his hands in defence and told her it was nothing to worry about, but mother was too stubborn and demanded him to tell her._

_"Okay, okay! But... it's really embarrassing" Haruo muttered "I-I can't read..."_

_"what, I didn't catch that?" _

_"I said I can't read okay! Happy now, neither me nor Tomoko can read!"_

_Silence followed the room afterwards, Tomoko gazed at her brother with a concerned look. Haruo then stormed out into the back garden; With his sister following not long afterwards._

_"Well" spoke father "that's something the Hokage forgot to mention"._

_"Sasuke did you know about this?" Mother asked me._

_"What? No! She doesn't talk remember?"_

_"Itachi?" Asked father sternly._

_"It's not that they can not read at all" my brother explained, "they just can not read our language, the dúnsæte (mountain people) are taught to read the ancient writings of their lady of light. Although its common for them to learn the modern tongue that we use, it is not deemed necessary to learn our literacy"._

_"So... That means what?" I asked._

_"It means that Haruo is required to take evening classes to learn our language, and obviously, Tomoko will as well as soon as she joins the academy"._

_"Well I understand why he's been taking extra classes, but why didn't he tell us?" My mother questioned._

_Itachi shrugged "that's something you need to ask him" was all he said them __turned to me, "Sasuke, maybe you should check to see if they're okay" he suggested._

_I gave my brother a nod and went the same direction that they did. I soon found them outside sitting next to each other, looking out to the garden._

_"I'm sorry you had to see that Tomoko-__sweostor_..." Haruo told her. She gazed up at her older brother with a soft smile as if to say she understood. 

_"It's just... I miss cennestre (mother) so much! And I'm so worried about you not talking, I just feel so pressure to make things work" he explained. Tomoko took hold of his hand and smiled sadly, it was just a couple of days ago, that the investigation was finished and the team could not find any traces of their mother's body, so she was pronounced dead._

_"I should probably go back inside and explain myself" Haruo stated as he stood up and started to make his way inside. I hid behind the doors so he didn't see me, I expected Tomoko to follow but she didn't._

_I decided to walk over to her and see if she's okay. "Tomoko-chan? Is everything alright?"_

_She didn't look at me, she just gazed up at the stars. Just as I was about to give up and walk back inside..._

_"Don't go..."_

_I was stunned, was she speaking now!_

_"Tomoko-chan? Did you?"_

_Tomoko turned to face me but didn't say anything._

_"You just talked didn't you? I knew you could!"_

_It was kind weird hearing her talk, her voice was soft, timid. Considering her age, she sounded a lot more reserved than some girls my age, it made a nice change._

_She gave me a smile "I'm sorry..." she softly spoke._

_"Sorry? What are you sorry for?"_

_"For worrying your family... I guess, I couldn't find a need to speak. After what happened to my mother, I didn't really trust anyone but my __Aaron_ oh erm... i mean Nii-San."

_"So... what changed?" I asked her._

_"I guess, I started trusting other people again, but you more than anyone..."_

_I wasn't expecting that so I asked her why._

_"Because you didn't talk to me as if I'd lost my mind, or as if I wasn't in the room, you and Itachi treat me as a person... as if I'm good enough"._

_I couldn't help but smile "You'll always be good enough for me Tomoko-Chan!"_

_I could see a faint blush in her cheeks "you think so?"_

_I nodded "Yeah! You are my friend after all!"_

_Tomoko's eyes widened slightly but then grinned... that was the start of our friendship._

* * *

My alarm clock ran loudly through my room which awoke me from my dream, it had been a while since I remembered that. It's not often I dwell on that part of my life anymore, because now it no longer feels real.

Sitting up in bed I thought back to mine and Tomoko's childhood. She was probably the person I trusted the most back then, I told her everything. But as we got older, we drifted apart. Her and her brother eventually moved out of the Uchiha compound and along with me Tomoko started the ninja academy.

We stopped talking, I'm not sure why but we did. Even during the academy days she avoided me like an illness, and at some point, became friends with that Hinata girl. But now we are on the same team, something I never saw coming.

But why the hostile attitude? Why does she hate me so much? I don't recall saying anything that could hurt her feelings, to be honest there are a lot of things I can't remember. I would ask her what her problem was, but I had more important things to think about... my revenge will always come before anything else.


	7. Survival training begins

It was dead on five am when I arrived at the training grounds, along with the others.

"Good morning..." muttered Sakura, as she was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Naruto couldn't even form a sentence because he was so tired. Sasuke said nothing and seemed to be wide awake, but as I got closer, I noticed slight bags under his eyes.

"Morning guys!" I say in a merry tone. Naruto and Sakura looked at me as if I had three heads.

"You're certainly... chipper this morning..." Sakura stated slowly.

I just shrugged "well considering on what kakashi asked us to do, I had a massive dinner, since I knew I wouldn't be able to eat breakfast, an early night and I'm also good in the mornings.."

"Isn't that cheating?" Sakura asked crossly.

"No" I answered sharply "say anything and I'll beat you to a pulp".

Nothing more was said after that as we waited for our sensei to arrive.

* * *

_'Okay this is ridiculous!'_ I thought angrily as now Kakashi was four hours late! The sun had fully risen, now Naruto and Sakura where sat down, whereas Sasuke and me remained standing. There goes my good mood.

"Good morning everyone!" we heard a voice say.

Recognising it straight away Naruto and Sakura jumped to their feet "YOU'RE LATE SENSEI!"

"Well a black cat crossed my path so..." But Kakashi never finished his sentence, because no matter what he said, he'd only be digging himself a deeper hole.

He cleared his throat and walked towards the three logs. He placed a timer on top of the middle log. "You have until noon today to complete the task."

He then pull proceeded to take out something out of his pocket, "the task is to get one of these bells from me" he explained holding them in the air, "Whoever can't will have no lunch, I'm going to tie you to the log and eat my lunch in front of you".

Everyone had misery snd hunger written all over their faces, I wasn't too bothered because as I stated before, I had a massive dinner last night.

"But wait" Sakura piped "why are there only three bells?"

This made Kakashi smile, well I was assuming he was smiling anyway. "Since there are only three, at least one will have to be tied to a log. That person will fail because he or she didn't complete the mission, that person, will go back to the academy. It might just be one... or all four of you. You can use shuriken; you won't be able to get these without the will to kill me".

"But that's too dangerous sensei!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah..." Naruto agreed "you couldn't even dodge that eraser!"

"In society, those who don't have any abilities to complain more, just ignore the guy with the lowest scores... We're going to start after I say 'ready, start!'"

But Kakashi's comment about Naruto obviously struck a nerve, because he immediately started charging towards sensei with a kunai knife in his hand. Only to have Kakashi catch his arm and twist it so the kunai was aimed at the back of his head.

"Don't get so hasty... I didn't say start yet."

_'Wow...'_ I thought _'I didn't even see him move he was so fast'._

Kakashi let go of Naruto, "Well it looks like you all have to will to kill me now" he mused "I think I can finally start to like you four!"

"Gee... thanks" I mumbled under my breath, that was the most back-handed compliment I'd received.

"We are going to begin... Ready... START!"

All four of us took off in different directions, I found a good hiding spot behind a thick tree. Once I knew I was safe, I began to strategize how to get the bells.

_'Three bells... four ninjas' _I told myself, _'it's like he's trying to get us all against each other'_. My first assumption was that he wanted to see our skills individually, which is probably the case.

But that indecent with Naruto kept playing in my mind, there was no way we could remotely touch Kakashi at the level we were, let alone get the bell. After all he is, even though he's lazy, a Jounin. If I had any chance of getting the bells, I'd have to team up with someone.

I highly doubted I'd get anywhere with Sakura, she was as useful as a bird who forgets to sing. Sasuke, I'm not even gonna go there. So that left me with Naruto...

Even though Naruto wasn't as good as Sasuke, he'd probably be more likely to listen once I shut him up.

"LETS HAVE A MATCH FAIR AND SQUARE!"

I looked where Kakashi was and saw Naruto with his arms crossed grinning._ 'Shit!'_ I cursed, that idiot he's never gonna get the bells by doing that. I shut their voices out of my mind to get focused, so I couldn't use Naruto, since he already made his appearance known to the enemy, which let me with the two options I didn't want to take.

If I asked Sakura, not only would she be unless in combat, but all she'd care about was Sasuke; however she'd probably be a good distraction leaving me to get the bells.

Sasuke, combat wise, would probably be more useful, since we both have the same chakra level. But with that Uchiha stubbornness in his blood, and that loner attitude made me think otherwise. I scanned the area and notice Naruto charging at our Sensei making him go into his pouch.

"Ninja tactic know-how number one, taijutsu. I'll teach you that first" Kakashi-sensei told the orange dressed ninja.

_'Taijutsu? But he's reaching for a weapon?'_

Well that theory got thrown out the window when he pulled out not a knife, but a book. And not just any book either...

"Flirting Paradise?" I read, not only is our sensei a moron, but he also reads erotic novels. I bet you're wondering why I know this? Well Haruo brought it home once, stating he borrowed it from colleague, I think I know who that was now.

"Why... why did you take out that book?" Naruto asked.

"Why?" Kakashi repeated "I got curious as to how the story is going to develop. Don't worry about it, It's the same whether I read this or not".

I drew my attention away from them for the moment and scanned the area again to notice something in a tree, north-east from me. I could recognise that raven hair anywhere.

_'I can't see Sakura anywhere, so it looks like it's just Sasuke left'._

Knowing that Kakashi was fully distracted by my teammate, I jumped from tree to tree till I reached Sasuke. When I appeared next to him, he stared at me with a puzzled expression.

"Listen Sasuke... I have a plan" I whispered.

But my attention was adverted when me and him realised Naruto stopped yelling. Behind him was Kakashi doing a hand sign of the tiger, which was for fire elements. Was he really going to do that to Naruto.

"NARUTO RUN! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" Sakura yelled but it was too late.

"A thousand years of pain!"

Now I know that sounds incredibly impressive, but it wasn't. If anything it was the most stupid thing I'd ever seen. Kakashi didn't perform a jutsu, he basically poked Naruto's butt and sent him flying.

"Two idiots" Sasuke mumbled which switched me back to him.

"Sasuke I have a..."

"I thought you said to not talk to you" he stated cooly.

I felt my eye twitch, "yes but I made missions an exception you jerk! Do you think I wanna be here talking to you if I felt I didn't need to?" I snapped making him glare at me. "Now listen, from watching Naruto I've come to realise that none of us can face Kakashi on our own at our level, we all need to team up or something..."

Sasuke scoffed "you're comparing me with Naruto?" he said snobbishly. "I'm nothing like him or any of you, I don't need your help."

"Oh will you get off your high horse! Or you're never gonna graduate!" I hissed "you are a Genin! Like the rest of us and Kakashi is a Jounin... we need to come up with a plan!"

"You'll only get in my way with your results..."

"What? I was tied with you, you moron!"

"not in your written exam!"

Now that stung, although Sasuke kept his emotionless face I could see something that flashed in his eyes... regret?

"You know what..." I mused sarcastically "forget it, as if I want to be teamed with you anyway... good luck failing!" and with that I disappeared back to my hiding spot.

_'I will not cry over him, I will not cry over him!' _I kept telling myself. But his words kept ringing in my head.

"Got ya!"

I looked to the training area to see about ten Naruto's holding Kakashi in place whilst one of them went to deliver the punch.

"what the? Ten Narutos?" I asked myself "no way! When did he learn to do shadow clones!"

As the Naruto went to punch his sensei, it turns out he only punched another clone. Naruto was clearly confused until he exclaimed...

"You must be Kakashi-sensei! You transformed didn't you?"

All the Naruto's then proceeded to beat each other to a pulp till only the real one was left.

_'No my friend... he pulled the replacement jutsu on you'_ I thought to myself. Naruto then noticed a bell on the floor and went to pick it up.

"No Naruto! It's a..."

"AHH WHAT'S THIS!?"

"trap..." I mumbled the last part as I watched him dangle upside down.

"Use your techniques after thinking carefully" spoke Kakashi, as he picked up the bell. "That's why it was used to your disadvantage, and... don't fall for such an obvious trap, stupid".

This pushed Naruto over the edge, but Kakashi ignored him and began to pep talk him on how ninja's need to think beyond normal.

"I already know!"

"I'm telling you this because you don't! Got it?"

But as he continued talking, shuriken was thrown and knocked him down only to be another replacement jutsu. I heard the rustle of brushes from where Sasuke was, it must have been him that threw it.

_'You completely fell for that one'_ I thought. Then I saw a flash of pink, which was obviously heading in the same direction as her precious Sasuke. Since Kakashi was nowhere in sight, I decided to help Naruto.

"Need a hand?" I called as I finally reached him.

"Nah I got it" he mumbled as he cut himself down and landed on his feet.

"Wait Naruto..." but once again I was too late, as he fell for yet another trap.

I shook my head "hold on let me find my skuriken" I told him, searching through my pouch. When I did find one, I didn't realise that Naruto was distracted by something, so when I threw my star to cut the rope, he wasn't ready and landed on his head.

"Oh god Naruto I'm so sorry!" I said rushing over to him.

"Nah it's okay..." Naruto reassured me whilst rubbing his head. Actually, now that me and him were alone I could tell him my plan.

"So Naruto I think I know how..."

"Sorry Tomoko! Gotta go!" and sped off leaving me stunned. Something must have caught his attention which seemed to be more important.

Suddenly, a fear-struck shriek echoed through the forest, and it sounded a lot like Sakura. Although I didn't particularly like her, it was against my morals to not check if she was hurt.

I tried to track her footsteps, by following the broken twigs and footprints but it isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when tracking someone, who isn't your target and that target is testing you.

"You're not gonna find any bells on the floor you know?"

I froze as the voice of my sensei rang through my ears, I slowly stood up straight and faced him, he was just casually standing there reading that book.

"I wasn't looking for the bells... not yet anyway".

Kakashi looked up from his book "Oh? Don't you want to be a ninja then?"

I started laughing "yes of course" was all I replied. I needed to get away from him fast if I were to ever reach Sakura and if I were ever to get the bells.

"Then why won't you attack me? Now is a good opportunity as ever" he mused at me.

But as soon as he finished talking, I jumped in the air and span into a kick, aiming for his head, well, at least that's what he thought. I landed back on my feet, with the book that he was reading in front of me.

He looked at me surprised, "I'm not self-centred, I'm not stupid and I'm certainly not infatuated with some guy" I told him picking up the book. "You want this back? you let me go".

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at me "so you're trying to bargain with me? Then why not bargain to get the bells?"

"Because..." I answered "at my level, there is no way I'd get a bell myself. Now, do you want the book or not?" I asked. When he didn't answer, I opened it up to random page "so then you don't want this book back" and as I said that, I started to rip the top of the page.

This sent Kakashi into a frenzy "NO! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

I smirked, "then see you around Kakashi-sensei" and with that I threw a smoke pellet to the ground, dropped the book and legged it.

* * *

Kakashi waited for the smoke the clear till he saw the book on the floor. Walking over to pick it up, he couldn't help but think about how much Tomoko had changed since the first time he'd met her.

She probably wouldn't remember as she was so young back then, but he remembered everything.

_'you've certainly grown up since then Tomoko...'_

But one thing he was questionable about was the vanbraces she wore, he knew for a fact that they weren't from this region. But how did they end up here? And how did they end up with Tomoko?

Kakashi was going to have to ask the Hokage.


	8. Seeing the fireball justu

I managed to find Sakura, she seemed to have fainted after she screamed. The one thing I'll give her credit for is, she's some heavy sleeper.

"Haruno! Wake up damn it!"

Still nothing, I would question whether she was dead or not, but I could she her chest go up and down from breathing. I was beginning to run out of options...

'_Well since you won't wake up... I'll force you'_ and with that I punched her in the face. And it did the trick because she shot to her feet immediately.

"OWWWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

I shrugged "It was my last resort to wake you up and you're welcome."

"Why should I thank you?" she snapped and then cried out in horror "oh no! Sasuke-kun, he was hurt! I have to save him!"

I rose an eyebrow "why what happened?"

Sakura stuttered "the skies went dark and I got scared then Sasuke-kun had kunai stabbed in him... OH GOD!"

I could feel a wet drop on the side of my head "the skies went black? Are you sure you didn't just fall under a genjustu?" I asked boredly.

"Shut up Tomoko! Unlike you I love him and he loves me!"

"Oh get over yourself!" I shot back "anyway since you're so hell-bent on helping him, we should go together then figure out how to get the bells".

"What, so you can try to win Sasuke-kun over?" she asked snobbishly "I don't think so... I'm coming Sasuke-Kun!" and ran off.

This is the reason I didn't want to be on the same team as Sakura! She probably one of the most selfish people I've ever met. Suddenly my trace of thought was broken when I saw a fireball about a mile away.

"Only one person is able to do that..."

* * *

"_Sasuke... what happened to your mouth? It's all burnt to a crisp" I asked him. I stopped at Sasuke's disrict so we could walk to the academy together. This is how we'd always meet in the mornings, since I had now moved out of the Uchiha's home._

_Personally, I didn't want to leave, I had gotten so adjusted living with them. But Haruo was becoming a his own man, and understandingly, he wanted his independences and not to mention how in debt we were to the Uchihas._

_We didn't move too far, just a flat two blocks away from the compound. I guess my brother took into account that I wanted to live close to my best friend._

_Sasuke looked up at me "are they that bad?" Sasuke's was sat on a bench not far from to compound enterance._

_I sat down next to him and examined his face "I'm the one asking the questions here!"_

_Sasuke gave me a nervous laugh "Don't worry Tomoko-chan, I'm just improving on a technique my father taught me"._

_I gave him a puzzled look "So that requires burning your mouth off?"_

"_No silly..." he teased "it's a technique where you blow out fire!"_

_My eyes widened "Wha? That's cool Sasuke! May I see it when you perfect it?"_

_Sasuke gave me a smile "Of course! After my father, you'll be the first to see it!"_

"_Awesome! Well, we best get moving, or we're going to be late. Haruo would have my head if I'm late".__  
_

_We both began walking down the street, not without passing some of our classmates along the way._

_"Oh look! It's Sasuke-kun!" I heard one girl squeal. "Oh my gosh he's so cool!"_

_I glanced in his direction, the look of slight irritation was apparent on his face. I don't know why he complains about it so much, I have it a lot worse._

_"it's Mori-San, she thinks she's so cool hanging off Sasuke-kun like that"._

_Hanging off him?! I'm walking next to him!_

_"I hate her! She thinks she can have him all to her self". _

_I sighed heavily, there was one downside to being friends with Sasuke, practically every girl in the academy hated me, so making more friends was difficult._

_"Sometimes a wish I was a boy" I mumbled. This caused Sasuke to give me an odd look and laugh "what? Why do you want that?" He asked between chuckles. _

_"Less attention from the rest of the girls, honestly, they put the female gene to shame" I grumbled. By now, Sasuke was in fits of laughter, which caused my to demand why he was laughing at me._

_"I'm... ahaha, I'm not. It's just, ahem, even after knowing you for so long, you always surprise me. It's comforting... you know what I mean?"_

_This caused Sasuke to smile sadly, "you know Tomoko-Chan, the house isn't the same since you and Haruo moved out, I really miss you."_

_I gave him a puzzled look "How could you miss me? I'm not that far away from you and you see me every day at the academy". _

_Sasuke shrugged "I know but... it just isn't the same. Before I could literary walk across the garden to see you but now..." he didn't finish._

_I stared at him blankly then chuckled, wondering how I could word this, "well, you could still walk across the garden to see me, only now it's a little further to walk!"_

"_Tomoko-Chan..." he mumbled in amazement._

"_I'm still here for you Sasuke, and I always will be. You're my best friend after all, we gotta stick together!"_

_Sasuke grinned "Thank you... Tomoko-Chan..."_

* * *

It's funny actually, at that time, the thing that I was looking to the most, was seeing Sasuke's complete technique. But the day I found out about his training, was three days before the massacre happened, I never knew he managed to complete it till now.

It made me question one thing, did he get to show Fugaku-leóf (sir) before he passed on, after all, at that time, Sasuke was hell-bent on getting his attention and trying to outshine Itachi.

'_Itachi...'_

I was well aware that it was him who committed the massacre, but at times I found it hard to believe. He was so gentle and caring, sure he had a funny way of showing it, but I could see he was a genuinely nice person. He was the first person I trusted from konohagakure, mostly because he fascinated me. He wasn't around much, but when he was he always made time to see me and Haruo.

'_But he slaughtered his clan'_ I reminded myself. I never found out why Itachi did it, because Sasuke wouldn't tell me, Sasuke didn't tell me a lot of things after that and that's when...

"AHHHHH!"

My head snapped upwards... I recognise that scream anywhere.

"SASUKE!"

I immediately jumped through the trees to find him. But wait, what did I care? He treats me like shit and tossed me like trash, why should I help them?

**"_Remember Tomoko, this person maybe someone who you don't exactly see eye to eye with. But if they are good in their own way, it is our duty to help them at all costs... that is one of the many lessons __Mitsuko teaches us"._**

'_Damn you mother!'_ I thought. But she was right, it was against my morals to not help someone in need, even if it is Sasuke. Then I heard another scream, only this time it was female. This made me frown "if she's fainted again, I'm gonna do more than punch her."

I finally reached Sakura to find her past out on the floor... again! "Sakura for goodness sake get up!" I yelled, as I ran towards her, but was cut off when someone callec my name.

I turned to the source and... Well, I wasn't sure if I was seeing things, but all I could see was Sasuke's head sticking out the ground.

"Eh?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't faint..."

I couldn't hold it in any longer, I laughed so hard it hurt my sides.

"What the hell is so funny about this!?" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Haha... er..." I cleared my throat "it's just..." but I couldn't form a sentence as I started laughing again.

"Urge sorry..." I cheered wiping the tears from my eyes "it's just... you totally deserve it!"

"And how do I deserve it!?"

After finally calming down, I walked forward and then crouched down to his level "because you're a self-centred moron, who actually thought he could take on a Jounin... think about it?"

He remained silent, only because he knew I was right. He did this all the time when we were kids. Sighing heavily I started to dig my hands in the dirt and toss it to the side.

"What you doing?" he asked rather rudely.

I scoffed "what does it look like I'm doing? I'm digging you out dope!"

Once again he stopped talking, leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air. I wanted to congratulate him on achieving that fire justu he just performed, but even if I did he'd just brush it under the rug like a nuisance.

"I touched one of the bells" he suddenly told me. I continued digging, hoping he'd get the hint to stop speaking, but he didn't.

"I guess my fire justu was too predictable..."

"Okay there should enough room for you get your arm through" I said cutting him off. As I stood back up he wriggled his arm free and managed to pull himself out.

"How did you find me anyway?" he asked standing up.

"Simple, I saw your fire justu, then followed Sakura's tracks".

"But... what made you think it was mine? It could've have been Kakashi's"

"Sasuke..." I told him sternly "I lived with your clan for about four years of my life, did you honestly think I'd forget that you're whole family are fire users? Trust me, I just knew, even if it was my first time seeing it."

Sasuke looked at me confused "wait, I never showed you when we were kids?"

I shook my head and frowned "No you didn't, why do you care anyway?"

"Oh... Sasuke-Kun, don't worry I'll save you" Sakura mumbled in her unconscious state.

"You're girlfriends asking for you" I told him and started to walk away.

"She isn't my girlfriend".

I chose to ignore him, what was the point in talking if he wasn't gonna corporate in this mission.

Sasuke walked over to her and knelt down, as for me, I kept my distance. When she did wake up, she didn't hesitate to practically pounce on him and start squealing, much to Sasuke's delight.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, _'well... She's awake now, no use in sticking around' _I figured and walked back into the forest.


	9. Pass or fail?

I couldn't help but curse under my breath, as I heard the alarm bell echoed through the wood. I had failed the first round and it wasn't even my fault! Why did I have to be given such an annoying group of people as teammates!

I made my way back to the three logs and blinked a couple of times, either I was seeing things or not eating breakfast was beginning to get to me.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at me glumly "Hey Tomoko-chan..."

I walked until I was standing next to him "let me guess, you broke the rules?"

Naruto practically had tears in his eyes "I WAS JUST SO HUNGRY, I COULDN'T RESIST!"

I felt a wet drop on the side of my head, we were all in the same situation so it didn't really give him a right to cheat. Sasuke soon walked over completely ignoring the both of us and sat down, Sakura soon followed.

We didn't say anything to each other because practically, we knew we all failed. Maybe I should've have been more pushy with the team work? Then I noticed three lunch boxes on the floor, seeing them made mine, and the other's stomach growl in hunger.

"Your stomachs are growling eh?"

All of us looked up to see Kakashi with his arms cross, if he didn't have that mask on I bet he had a right smug look on his face.

"By the way..." he said cutting me from my thoughts "about the results of this training, none of you need to return to the academy..."

I raised an eyebrow, what?

"What? But all I did was faint. Was that okay?" Sakura asked dumbfounded. She then started cheering, whilst Naruto was grinning like a goon and Sasuke was smirking. But something didn't sit right with me, because we really didn't do well at all.

"So..." Naruto exclaimed in excitement "that we?"

Kakashi smiled "Yep! All of you... SHOULD QUIT BEING NINJAS!" Naruto and Sakura stopped cheering and Sasuke's face turned to stone. "Oh except Tomoko, she passed with flying colours..."

'_What?'_

"WHAT?" Naruto and Sakura screeched.

"I... passed?" I breathed, how did I pass? I didn't even touch the bells!

Naruto seemed to be trying to find his voice "Quit being Ninjas? What do you mean?" he demanded "We couldn't a bell, but why do you have to say we should quit?"

Kakashi placed his hands on his hips "Because, minus Tomoko, you are just kids who don't deserve to be ninjas!"

That one sentence, seemed to have struck a nerve in Sasuke, because suddenly he started charging towards our sensei. But his efforts were in vain, as Kakashi easily knocked him to the ground and sat on him.

"See?" he jeered whilst twisting Sasuke's arm "You are all just kids!"

"DON'T STEP ON SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura ordered in a deadly tone, which really ticked Kakashi off.

"Do you guys think being ninjas is that easy?"

With the weight of failing and seeing Sasuke getting squash, Sakura snapped and jabbed her finger at me, "How did Tomoko pass huh? All she did was run around and punch me! What makes her so special?" Everyone looked at me, even Sasuke with his face in the dirt with an unreadable expression.

Kakashi stayed silence for a bit before he asked one question. "Why do you think we're training by breaking up into groups?"

Sakura looked stumped "W-what do you mean?"

"In other words, you three don't understand the answer of this test. Tomoko, figured it out straight away even though she's not aware of it".

I was still utterly confused, I tried to think back on what I did different to everyone else. I knew I couldn't have taken on Kakashi alone, that would have been what he expected so I tried to get the others to help...

'_Now I get it!'_

"I see you've figured the answer out Tomoko..." Kakashi stated in a pleasant tone.

"The... answer?" Naruto repeated.

"That's right" Kakashi spoke turning serious again, "the answer to determine whether you pass or fail..."

"We've been asking what that is..." Sakura confessed.

Kakashi scoffed "Geez, are your brains empty? You don't understand why you're all in a group?"

Naruto finally had it "So what about it!"

I could tell Kakashi was getting more frustrated by the second, so I decided to cut in.

"The answer is teamwork Naruto..."

The others looked completely gob smacked as they mumbled teamwork all at the same time. "You mean, coöperate with each other?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded "That's right, But it's too late for that even if you notice now. If all four of you came at me at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell. Tomoko was the only one who properly analysed the situation, and knew no one on this team would be able to obtain one on their own. The rest of you thought to highly of yourselves to rely on other people!"

It all made sense now, I was right all along! I knew we couldn't do it on our own. "That's why you gave off the lazy personae..." I stated, "to mislead us into thinking we could defeat you easily, this was part of your strategy".

"Very sharp Tomoko" Kakashi mused, "but I will say this, although you are the only one that passed you have one fatal flaw".

Somehow I already knew what he was going to say.

"You found it difficult to keep your emotions in check, and because of that it took you a while to recuperate from your argument with Sasuke..."

Sasuke shot a stare at me, he seemed surprised to hear that.

"Sasuke-kun and Tomoko... had an argument?" Sakura whispered.

I didn't like where this was going "I realise that sensei, and I can assure you it won't happen again."

"Wait a moment..." Sakura suddenly spoke, "why do we need to use teamwork when there are only three bells? If four people worked hard to get it, one person will have to bite the bullet! A group conflict will occur instead of teamwork!"

"Of course!" Kakashi replied "this test tries to put you four against each other". He then began to explain that in this situation, the system selects those who can prioritize teamwork before themselves. "That was the purpose... but the three of you were pathetic... Sakura!" Sakura jumped when her name was called.

"You cared more about Sasuke than Naruto or Tomoko, even though both of them were in front of you and you didn't know where Sasuke was..."

"Naruto! All you did was work on your own..."

"And you Sasuke! Just assumed that those three would just get in the way and did everything yourself!"

As he pressed Sasuke's face further in the dirt, he looked up at me with a softer expression "Tomoko, took the time to come up with a plan to at least work with one other person. I believe you first intent was to team up with Naruto?"

I nodded "yes, but as soon as he showed himself, I thought I couldn't go through with it straight away, so I decided to approach Sasuke. We're not on the same terms but for the mission I would've pushed that aside..."

"And what did you do?" Kakashi hissed,directing his question at the Genin beneath him, "you told her she'd only get in the way and on top of that insulted her! Naruto, she freed you from all the traps that you fell for and in return you cut her off and decided to cheat!"

"That was what you were going to ask me Tomoko?" Naruto asked timidly.

I nodded in reply, he must have felt like an idiot "I'm not mad Naruto..."

"And finally Sakura..." Kakashi cut in, "its clear to anyone that you both don't get along, but as soon as Tomoko heard your cries, she came to your aid and asked you to team up. But you still only cared and wanted to graduate with Sasuke!"

"Even after all this! Tomoko still helps Sasuke out of my ninjustu and stuck around to help Sakura after she fainted... again!"

Wow, Kakashi was proper amping up my actions, I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Mission are done in groups" Kakashi said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "It's true that ninjas need well-developed individual abilities, but it's teamwork that is much more important. An individual action that disrupts the teamwork, will result in danger or even death for the team mates!"

He then reached for his weapon pouch "for example..." he muttered producing a kunai knight, and suddenly aimed it at Sasuke's throat "Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

Sakura gasped in shock and Naruto was giving her a nervous look, which in turn made me aim to grab my own knife unless Sakura did try it... well... can you blame me?

Kakashi relaxed a little, "That's what will happen..." he sighed as he pulled the knife away. Sakura let out the breath she was holding in and I retreated my hand from my weapon pouch. "After getting someone taken hostage, you will be faced with a difficult decision, and someone will die..." he explained spinning his kunai around his index finger.

For some reason, what he said made me think back to my mother, I don't really remember much of that day, because I suffered amnesia at that time. But the one thing I'll never forget are my mother's last words to me.

"_**Tomoko... I will find you again..."**_

"In every mission..." Kakashi spoke, bringing me out of my thoughts, "you put your life on the line" He then stood up and walked towards a large stone. "Look at this..." he ordered and nodded his head towards it "The numerous names carved into this stone, all these names are those praised as heroes in this village".

"I like that! I like that!" Naruto chanted with a grin "I've decided that I'm going to have my name carved into that! A hero! A hero! I'm not going to die a useless death!"

Suddenly it dawned on me, this was no ordinary stone. By this time Sasuke already walked back over and sat down surprisingly' next to me, but I guess he didn't want to deal with Sakura.

"They aren't normal heroes Naruto..." I replied as calmly as I could.

"So what kind of heroes are they?"

"K.I.A" Kakashi answered.

"and what does that mean?"

I clenched my fist... how insulting! "Naruto!" I snapped "How could you not know!"

"Tomoko..." he breathed in surprised "I... don't understand..."

"It means killed in action, they all died" Sakura finally confirmed, making Naruto look down in shame.

Kakashi faced the stone "this is a cenotaph, the names of my friends are graved in here as well" he stated solemnly. As he spoke of his friends it made me think back to when I saw my mother last... before she was taken from me...

* * *

"_**Haruo, you must ride with your sister for help! Go and sound the alarm!" My mother ordered. Haruo took in her words and mounted our family's horse.**_

"_**Tomoko come on!" she cried grabbing hold of me.**_

"_**But you said that Haruo wasn't allowed to ride Kinosuke!" I stated, as she lifted me on the horse "he is too big for him!"**_

_**But my mother ignored me and ordered Haruo to keep riding and never look back, no matter what.**_

"_**B-but... Momma..." I sobbed "I don't want to go! I don't want to leave you!"**_

_**My mother gave me a sad smile and placed her hands on either side of my face, "Tomoko... I will find you again..." she promised me and kissed my forehead. Suddenly a cry of pain echoed behind me, becoming scared, my mother let go of me.**_

"_**Go! Go now!" she yelled.**_

_**Haruo did what she asked and kicked Kinosuke into a Canter, he wrapped his arm around my waist... never looking back.**_

* * *

I never saw her again, even though she promised I would. In all honesty, I'm still broken from that day and I don't think I'll ever be fixed.

"Tomoko... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry..." I heard Naruto say. It was then I realised, I had tears running down my cheeks... when did I start crying?

"Oh my... how embarrassing" I breathed as I wiped them away, "no Naruto you didn't do anything, I was wrong to have snapped at you..."

I could feel someone's gaze on me, and I had a pretty good idea who's it was. After all, he was the only one here that knew about my mother... and I how I felt about it.

"I'll give you all a second chance" Kakashi told us, "we'll start again after you've eaten, but none of you are to feed Naruto. If you do, you will fail immediately and that includes you Tomoko!"

'_Damn it!'_

"I'm the rule here..." Kakashi said menacingly "Got it!"


	10. A visit to an old friend?

I couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty, as I ate my lunch in front of Naruto, who was still tied to the log. I know its part of his punishment, but seriously? It was kinda harsh if I do say so myself. The guilt felt even heavier, when Naruto's growling stomach echoed through the woods, making us all stare at him.

"I'm okay!" he tried to reassure, "even if I don't eat! I'm..." but as he was going to finish his sentence, he stomach disagreed. Okay I couldn't take this anymore, if letting someone starve was the ninja way, then I don't want no part of it! But as I was just about to get up, someone already beat me to it.

"Here..." said Sasuke holding his food out to him. Well out of all the impossible things that I thought could never happen, Sasuke helping Naruto was definitely in the top five.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried "Sensei just said..."

"Don't worry, I don't sense him nearby" he assured, "if we're going to get the bells, all four of us need to work as a team..."

"Jeez, you just figured that out?"

He threw me a heated glare "if you're finished! Anyway as I was saying, Naruto is only gonna be trouble if he's hungry." Naruto looked a little shocked to say the least which made me laugh.

"Just take the food Naruto..." I softly ordered him, However Sakura too held her food out to him.

"Sakura-Chan?" Naruto breathed with his eyes twinkling like stars "Thanks..."

"Don't thank me, just hurry up and eat!" she ordered.

"But... But I..."

"I'm on a diet!" she then stopped herself "I mean... I eat less than Sasuke-kun and Tomoko shouldn't risk failing when she's already passed, So don't worry about it."

"But..." he hesitated and proceeded to try to move his hand, hinting that Sakura would have to feed him. Sakura pulled a face of utter disgust.

"Oh will you hurry up!" I hissed "Kakashi could come back at any second!"

Saskura's eyebrow twitched, she made it very clear that this were only to happen once and that's it. But either way I think Naruto was okay with that, as long as he got fed. Sakura, with still the disgusted look, held a rice ball up which Naruto happily ate. But the moment was cut short as a massive explosion erupted in front of us.

'_This doesn't look good...'_

"YOU FOUR!"

Kakashi appeared to us in a fit of rage, as if he was ready to shatter us into a million pieces. "You four broke the rules, Are you prepared for your punishment?" He made a symbol with his hands the sky swallowed up into darkness. Lighting struck the ground, thunder echoed in the air, leaving us all petrified. But something didn't make sense to me. He explained that the whole meaning of this test was teamwork? And now he's punishing us for doing that? Call me crazy but to me this wasn't fair!

"Any last words?"

Sasuke glared at him whilst Sakura coward in fear. It was only Naruto that could form a sentence "But... But... But... You said that's why everyone..."

"We're a four man team right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah" Sakura cut in "we four are one!"

There was a long awkward silence "You four are one eh?" Kakashi jeered we all stared at him with a nervous glance.

"You pass!"

'_Eh? Say what now?' _

Everyone including me had a blank expression, so Kakashi repeated it again only more slowly.

"Pass?" Sakura mumbled "Why?"

I was blinded by the sun peeking through the darkness that Kakashi created, and couldn't help but shield my eyes slightly.

"You four are the first..." I heard him say "people I had previously were blockheads who just listened to what I said." He then stood up straight "Ninja need to think beyond normal" he quoted, "In the world of Ninjas, those who break the rules are called scum. But those who don't take care of their friends are worse than scum..."

'_Friends?' _I couldn't help but glance over a Sasuke, who in turn glanced back with his unemotional star,e making me look away and frown.

_'I'm sorry Sensei... but me and Sasuke will never be friends... not ever again...'_

"The test has ended" Kakashi announced giving us a thumbs up "team seven will start missions tomorrow!"

Everyone but me and Sasuke cheered, he was smirking but me, I was sort of lost in my own thoughts. I should be happy... ecstatic even! But I still feel as though something is missing in my life.

"Hey! I knew it was gonna end like this!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up to see Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke walking off "Hey!" Naruto yelled "UNTIE THE ROPE!"

"Chill out will you?" I told him standing up, very quickly I untied the rope.

"Finally free!" He cried jumping up and down. "Thank you Tomoko! How about some Ramen to celebrate?"

I smiled "That sounds great... but I'm afraid there's something I must do..."

"Huh? What's that?"

"I guess, I need to see an old friend..." and with that I started walking away.

* * *

"HEY GUYS WAIT UP!"

I turned around to see that knuckle head running towards us, honestly after today how can he still have so much energy?

"Hey Sakura-Chan? Wanna come eat some ramen with me?" Naruto asked.

"No!" she snapped making Naruto sigh dramatically.

"Naruto?" Kakashi spoke "wasn't Tomoko with you?"

That's what was missing where was she anyway?

"Er... she said she needed to visit an old friend, but I don't who she could be talking about. Is there anyone else from the mountain village living here?"

"No..." Kakashi answered "she and Haruo-san are the only ones."

"Hm..." Sakura pondered "I wonder who this person is?"

"It's not a person..."

Everyone turned to stare at me "We're near the village ranch aren't we? She's gone there..." and with that I walked away. I didn't particularly want to be bugged by annoying questions. I thought back to where Tomoko had gone and who she was going to see, I'm surprised that he's still alive. I guess Haruo wasn't lying when he told me that he was blessed with everlasting long life.

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

An elderly woman appeared from the back of the small house, "Oh Tomoko-san!" she cheered "How are you?"

I smiled "I'm very well Yuuki" I answered.

"I don't need to question why you're here, although it has been a while..."

I glanced down "Yes, I'm sorry it's been a little crazy lately with me become a ninja and all... How is he?"

"Like any other old man" Yuuki answered "grumpy and stiff."

I laughed and Yuuki allowed me to go through the large patch of land, along the way I grabbed an apple and leaned against the fence of the paddock. Searching the field I gave a gentle whistle, it didn't take long for a beautiful white stallion to come galloping over.

Effortlessly I jumped over the fence and took a couple of steps closer, Kinosuke shook his long, elegant main back and fort, and slowed to a halt in front of me."Kinosuke... how are my friend?" I asked him.

Kinosuke gave me a snort "bored!" he answered, did I forget to mention that he could talk?

Kinosuke was actually a Shinobi horse, well the actual term is 'beadurincs friþhengest' (warrior horse). So to put it simply, he is a ver rare breed of stallion. All ninja animals know how to talk and its not rare for them to aid a ninja in battle. However, back in Yamakure, we are very reliable on horses, so all horses born on the Mountain plane and granted everlasting long life to protect and aid their chosen family. Kinosuke was my mother's horse, there isn't a day in my whole life where I can't imagine him not being apart of it. He doesn't particularly Like talking about his, but I imagine that he is older than me and Haruo combined.

"Well... you're the one who decided to retire" I answered.

"Yes don't remind me" he grumbled.

"Now Kinosuke, you know that we wouldn't mind if you decided to go back, Yamakure is your home."

Once again he snorted "no child, my home is wherever the Mori family dwells".

I chuckled at him "always the gentlemen".

"say, Tomoko-Chan?" He begam "Don't you usually come and see me with that boy?"

"Boy?"

"You know, the one with the dark eyes and hair, the Uchiha."

My expression turned cold "Kinosuke... Sasuke hasn't visited you in over three years remember?"

Kinosuke thought for a moment "ah yes, damn my memory is getting worse... do you still talk to the boy?"

I took interest in my shoes and began to stroke his nuzzle as he continued, "I remember when he first heard me talk, took him by surprise it did. But he always seemed a very polite and very determined little fellow..."

"Kinosuke..." I cut in "He died... remember?" In a way I wasn't lying, The Sasuke him and I both knew was gone, and I doubt that he was going to come back anytime soon.

"Oh yes... I forgot..." Kinosuke shook his mane, "I hate getting old, I need to stretch my legs, will you join me for a walk Tomoko-fréo?"

I smiled "Yes of course..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office a knock could be heard at the door.

"Come in" The ruler called. As the door opened the Hokage smiled "ah Kakashi... I hear that your group has passed?"

Kakashi bowed "yes Hokage-Sama"

"Very good" the Hokage mused "but, that's not why you're here?"

Kakashi stood up straight "No... It's... Mori Tomoko."

"What about her?"

"I'm worried about those vanbraces she wears" he explained "did you give them to her?"

The Hokage smoked his pipe "her mother gave them to her, but technically, she past them to Haruo, who past them to me to keep safe."

Kakashi looked down, he didn't like those vambraces one bit. He had never seen anything like it before, and anything he didn't fully understand, he was wary of it.

"Kakashi..." The Hokage called sternly "I don't know much about them things myself, but I do know is that they are probably older than this village. It's markings indicate it was forged in the ancient Mountain city, where the holy temple of Mitsuko dwells."

"Whether it's made from the place of Order or not, I still don't trust them" Kakashi stated firmly.

The Hokage sighed "Haruo explained that the vambraces were given to her for a reason. For now... just keep an eye on her. If the vambrace proves to be too dangerous, then take them away from her and bring it back to me."

Kakashi bowed and left the room, he couldn't help but think back when he very first met Tomoko. She was incredibly young back then, but he could never forget those forest green eyes.

* * *

"_**Kakashi-san" an ANBU troop called, making him turn around "a village has been set alight! It's about 20 yards from here!"**_

"_**What?" Kakashi demanded. Immediately he ordered his team to follow him, thinking how could an attack occur without them noticing? When they reached their desintation, through his ANBU mask, Kakashi stared in horror and the massive flames that engulfed the village.**_

"_**How horrible..." another ANBU troop breathed.**_ _**It was then Kakashi noticed something coming towards them very quickly, so he ordered everyone to hide for a surprise attack. After a little while the unknown target appeared more clearly, it was a white coated horse, and riding it was a boy, with a girl tucked into his arm who looked no older than four!**_

_**The horse was now walking slowly so the children could stay balanced on him "Children..." the horse spoke "I don't think we're alone."**_

_**The girl became alerted, and began shaking, her chest started to heave in and out aggressively. I was clear that she was starting to have some form of panic attack.**_

_**The horse snorted the air, trying to catch our scent. "We should hurry, Haruo is getting weaker by the second..."**_

_**And sure enough the boy was only holding on to the reigns loosely with his head dipped low. With the little one getting progessingly worde, Kakashi ordered his troops to surround them. The horse reigned back in surprise making the children fall off.**_

_**the girl, screamed aloud and crawled over to her brother, attempting to shake him awake. Tears apparent on her face. **_

_**The horse regained his composure and blocked him from the children, "touch them and I'll kick you to death!"**_

"_**We are not your enemy" Kakashi told him, "we are ninja from the fire country."**_

"_**The fire country? You are from Konokagakure" the Horse stated "then what are you doing here?"**_

"_**We saw the smoke and came to inspect what was going on."**_

_**The horse whinnied "I don't have time for this! I have to get these children to the holy city! Where it's safe!"**_

_**Kakashi sighed "I'm afraid no one is there, we went there for our mission and the city was deserted."  
**_

_**The horse gazed at him in shock "How could this be?"**_

_**Kakashi walked over to him "I'm sorry, but at least let us help you, the safest place for them now is our village, it isn't too far."**_

_**The horse agreed and let him go towards the children, Kakashi bent down to their level. "It's alright..." he told them "we're going to take you somewhere safe..."**_

_**However, the girl was in too much of a panic stricken state and started shake violencely. She reached over to her brothers pocket, and pulled a knife out, aiming it directly at Kakashi.**_

_**"She has a weapon!" An ANBU troop yelled and immediately got prepared for a counter attack.**_

_**No!" Kakashi yelled stopping him, "for goodness sake stand down! can't you see she's just scared".**_

_**THe horse stepped forward "Tomoko calm down, these people want to help you".**__**  
**_

_**She still aimed the knife high, but seemed to be froze on the spot.**_

_**"Tomoko?" Kakashi asked "your name is Tomoko, that's a pretty name". As he spoke he slowly stepped closer, the girl remained still. It finally hit him, here are these peoplestrath weapons and wearing very strange masks, any child would be afraid.**_

_**He slowly lifted his hand to his face, making his team question his actions. "Relax" he told his team, and carefully removed his mask.**_

_**Tomoko gasped, and seemed surprised to find a man under there. Granted he wore another one over his nose and mouth, but she could now make out his emotions through his one visable eye, and the creases that formed the shape of his mouth.**_

_**"See" drawed out in a pleasent tone, "nothing to be afraid of Tomoko-chan, now can you pleas give me the kunai knife?" Kakashi held out his hand, Tomoko was hesitant at first, but eventually placed it into his hand.**_

_**"Thank you" he told her and placed a hand on her shoulder, staring into her bright green eyes, "everything is going to be okay".**_


	11. Meeting the bridge builder

"**This is Sasuke, arrived at point B"** I heard him say through the head set I was wearing, we were now currently on a mission, in case you hadn't gathered. It had been nearly a month since we passed Kakashi test, and pretty much every day we performed missions. Well... That's if anyone would ever consider this to actually be one.

"**This Sakura, I've arrived at point C."**

"Tomoko here, I'm at point D" why there is even a point D in this operation I'll never know. All this fuss over a...

"**This Naruto, I've arrived at point A"**

"**You're slow Naruto" **Kakashi scolded, **"Okay, 7****th**** unit... The target has moved!"**

Immediately everyone followed it, I heard them rustle the bushes as they ran. I felt a wet form on the side of my head, they're taking this mission way too seriously. I jumped behind the next tree where I saw Naruto about a metre away.

"**What's the distance of the target?" **Kakashi enquired.

"**Five meters" **Naruto answered **"I'm ready to go!" **

"**I am to" **Sasuke cued making Sakura say something similar.

"**Tomoko?" **Kakashi called.

Honestly this is stupid! I didn't sign up for thism I have more important things to worry about!

"**Tomoko!"**

"Yes I'm ready! Just go for goodness sake!"

"**Okay..." **Kakashi began **"Go!"**

Immediately Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke jumped out behind the target, Naruto was the first to grab it. But the target wasn't amused, because it attacked him as if he was a scratching post.

Yep! I was spending my day, as a Genin ninja, catching a cat. Notice the sarcasm.

"**Does it have a ribbon on its right ear? Is it our target Tora?" **Kakashi asked. I stepped away from the tree I was behind, to walk over to the rest of them.

"It's the target alright" Sasuke answered.

"Stupid cat! Stop scratching!" Naruto yelled. I calmly walked over and held my hands out to him, "No Tomoko it'll scratch you!" He tried to warn me.

"Oh don't fuss I'm good with animals" I told him taking the cat off him, which still continued to attempt an escape. "Oy!" I snapped making it stop strugglinh and stare at me. "You can either come quietly, or you'll have no tail! What's it gonna be?" The cat stared at me blankly but complied and relaxed, to make it feel more comfortable I began to scratched behind it's ears.

"**Operation Capture Tora the lost Pet: Complete!" **Kakashi confirmed only to have his, and everyone else's eardrum nearly burst by Naruto's complaining, making the cat go nuts again.

"Ssh..." I cooed stroking it's head, it once again calmed down and began purring.

Sakura walked over and bent down to look at the cat "how did you do that so easily? even the owner says he's hard to handle, yet you control him with such ease?"

"In Yamakure, we're constantly surrounded by nature, so we are blessed with the ability to be somewhat... at one with it. It's hard to explain."

"Oh..." Was all she said. Sakura was being somewhat... civil to me now, or maybe she was trying to get on my good side. I wasn't sure what her motives were and it was annoying.

"**Tomoko" **Kakashi spoke **"You need to involve yourself more, we really need..."**

"They all were perfectly capable of doing it without me, it doesn't take four people to catch a cat" I replied.

"**That's not the point I'm making..."**

I wasn't particularly in the mood for a teamwork lecture, I already had a lot on my mind, so I pulled the ear piece out and dropped it on the ground. In all honestly, I felt a bit like a fifth wheel, you know the four are set to go and the last is in the back, only used in emergencies, especially on this petty mission.

Don't misunderstand me, I was well aware of the low level missions, we have to do because Haruo went through the exact same thing. I remember him coming home frustrated due to the fact it felt like slave labour, now I fully understand what he meant. He did however, reassure me that it does get better, I hope he's right.

As I was caught in my thoughts I could feel a stern gaze on me, so I looked up at him and threw him a glare, "take a picture, it will last longer!"

Sasuke glared at me right back, but began walking back towards to village, the others soon followed behind, leaving me and the cat. I'm not sure how much more I could take, I felt really alone in this team.

* * *

"Here you go..." I spoke emotionlessly, passing the cat to it's owner.

"Oh, my cute Tora-Chan!" she cried squeezing the life out of the poor thing, the cat gave me desperate look.

Naruto started sniggering "That cat is getting what it deserves!"

"No wonder he ran away..." Sakura whispered.

"Now then" the Hokage spoke "Kakashi's 7th unit's next mission is..." he then read the paper he was holding which was a list of the once again... D-rank missions.

"NO!" The Hokage stopped reading after Naruto's outburst. "No thanks to all of those! I want to do more exciting missions!" he continued with his arms showing a cross. I could tell even Sakura and Sasuke were feeling the same, whereas Kakashi just looked like he was getting a head ache.

Iruka stood up "Idiot! You're still a novice ninja!" he yelled "Everyone needs to start with the easy missions to gain experience!"

"But..." Naruto yelled "But we've only been doing is dumb missions lately!" but he never finished his sentence due to Kakashi punching him.

"Cut it out" Kakashi told him.

"Naruto!" The Hokage called "It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are." He then cleared his throat "Listen, a lot of clients come to this village every day. They request things from babysitting to assassinations..."

He then proceed to explain on how the requests are organised into ranks according to difficulty. D-ranks were performed by Genin only, C-ranks are usually aimed for more experienced Genin and early starting Chunin, Chunin were also able to perform B-rank missions. The highest level was an A-rank mission, which was given only to a Jounin level ninja. If a mission is completed, a fee gets collected and helps the financial support of the village.

"You have only just become Genin" The Hokage stated "so D-rank mission are what's best for you."

But Naruto wasn't listening to one word, "I had tonkotsu ramen yesterday, so I'm going to eat a miso ramen today..."

"LISTEN!"

Kakashi scratched his head "I am sorry..."

'_Yeah like you were listening anyway'_ I thought.

Naruto pulled a face "you always lecture me like that pops" Naruto stated. "But I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore!" and with that he turned his back on the Hokage in a huff, making Kakashi rub his head in annoyance.

The Hokage then proceeded to laugh, which confused the hell out of me, "Okay, I understand" he said. "If you insist, I will allow you to take on a C-rank mission. It's to escort a certain person..."

"Really?" Naruto cried "who? Who? The feudal lord? Or a princess?"

"Don't get hasty" The Hokage told him "I'll introduce him now." He then called the person in. The door slowly opened to reveal a very old and very drunk man.

"What? They're just kids!" he slurred and took a swig from his bottle "Hey, is the smallest one there with the idiotic face really a ninja?"

Naruto laughed "who's the smallest one with the idiotic face?" as he said this he could see all four of us standing in a line, Sasuke being on the end on the left was the tallest out of the group, I was on Naruto's right and my head reached to Sasuke's forehead making me second tallest, Sakura was only a inch shorter than me and Naruto reached my nose... making him the smallest.

"I'm going to kill you!" he raged as he figured it out. Luckily Kakashi grabbed a hold of the back of his jacket, scolding him not to kill the client.

The man took another swig of his drink, "I am the bridge building expert Tazuna" he introduced. "Once I have returned to my country, I will have all of you protect my life with yours as I complete the bridge".

"Wait..." I cut in turning back to the Hokage "we have to leave the village?" The Hokage nodded which made my heart feel heavy "Hokage... I... I can't just leave..."

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled in my face "What do you mean you can't go!"

I didn't answer.

"You're not scared are you?" Sasuke asked which made me mad!

"Of course I'm not!"

"Tomoko..." I fell silent when The Hokage spoke my name, "I understand you and Haruo are going through a hard time right now, which is why I made sure your brother has no missions until you return. Kinosuke will be in good hands."

"Kinosuke?" Naruto repeated.

I felt a little more reassured, but the fear I had was not being around when it happened.

"You all have three hours to get ready" the Hokage told us then excused us, when we finally got outside I wasn't surprised when I got questioned about what I was talking about.

"Who's Kinosuke?" Sakura asked.

I looked at her and gave her a sad smile "he's... he's my oldest friend, and he's not very well".

"Oh no..." Sakura sighed "what's wrong with him?"

I glanced down "he's old Sakura... believe it or not he's much older than the Hokage!"

"WHAT!" her and Naruto cried.

"How is that possible?"

I laughed "lets just say he's very strong willed."

* * *

I had no idea why I came here, I haven't been to this place since I was a child. But I guess it was some kind of closure, because what Tomoko forgot to mention, was that in a way I grew up with Kinosuke to.

"May I help you young man?" An elder woman stood in front of me.

"Er... yes, I'm here to see Kinosuke?"

She gave me a stern look "you mean the Mori's horse?"

"Yeah" I answered "Tomoko asked me to check on him, I'm one of her teammates."

"Oh I see..." The woman chirped "he's in the stable on the end, oh try not to disturb him too much, I'm afraid he's not been feeling a hundred percent".

"I know..." I mumbled and slowly walked to the stable, looking over at the gate. I couldn't help but feel a slight pang at my heart when I saw Kinosuke lying on his side, looking so weak. From what I could remember of him, Kinosuke was a very proud creature and never showed his weakness.

"Tomoko..." he breathed "why do you smell different?"

I stared at him for a long time "I'm not Tomoko".

Kinosuke lifted his head slowly to look at me "who are you boy?"

I wasn't surprised that he didn't recognise me, slowly Kinosuke stood on his feet and stood closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my hands (which were leaning on the stable door).

"You smell familiar..." he told me "but I can't place you."

"The last time you saw me I was only a child" I answered casually.

Kinosuke stared at me long and hard "Uchiha?" he gasped in realization "Uchiha Sasuke?"

I didn't say anything, it was obvious that he now remembered me.

"I would have considered you a ghost if you didn't smell so strongly..." he admitted.

I furrowed my eyebrows "what?"

The Horse snorted "Well I was under the impression you were dead, Tomoko even said so herself..."

"Tomoko... told you I was dead?" I cut in.

"Yes... does she know you're alive?"

I couldn't help but grit my teeth slightly "we're on the same team..."

Kinosuke's eyes widened "Oh my... well... this is certainly awkward."

I couldn't believe Tomoko told him I was dead! Out of all the terrible things a person could say... I never expect her to say that!

"I have to express" Kinosuke spoke "you're much different to what I remember."

"A lot has changed since I was a kid" I replied.

"Oh I'm aware of that" he shot back "Tomoko has changed a lot since she was a child"

Now this got my attention "how so?"

"Well..." He began "she was greatly saddened by her mother's death, but she slowly got better, then, she got depressed again."

"Why?"

"I assumed it was because you pass away, but I guess I was wrong."

I was stunned, she got depressed again? Was it after we stopped being friends? "I have to go" I suddenly said realising I stayed here longer than intended.

"Oh..." Kinosuke breathed sounding a little sad "it sure was nice to see and an old familiar face, I don't suppose you'll come back to visit this old horse."

"We're going on a C-rank mission" I told him.

Kinosuke shook his mane "ah... Tomoko's first C-rank mission. I never thought I'd live to see that day..."

"Don't talk like that!" I scolded "Tomoko is scared she won't see you again! You have to stay strong for her sake!"

Woah... Where the hell did that come from?

Kinosuke was quiet for a second "I suppose you're right, do me one favour boy and look after her, she's all I have left".

I wanted to say no and that it wasn't my problem. But in his eyes was something I never thought I'd see, desperation and weakness... even I wasn't that cruel.

"I'll do my best..."

* * *

"Hey Sasuke! What took you so long?!"

"None of your business dope..." was all he replied making Naruto steam at the ears, something was off with him this afternoon. He was quiet, more quiet than usual.

"Well then? now that everyone is here we should head to the village gate" Kakashi stated and started walking. All four of us followed closely behind him, to which I noticed Sasuke giving me a wide birth, well... wider than he normally did.

"Sasuke-kun? Is something wrong?" Sakura asked with a concerned gaze, but all he did was reply with his typical "hm'' and walked ahead.


	12. C-rank mission begins!

"All right!" Naruto cheered throwing his fists in the air "Let's go!"

"What are you all excited for?" Sakura asked him in a bored tone. He then proceed to be pretending to look at for something, by placing his hand (the side were his thumb was) on his forehead and looking left to right, "Because I've never gone outside the village before!"

I had to admit myself, I was rather excited to, I haven't left the village since I came all those years ago. But Kinosuke was still bearing in my mind.

"Hey" spoke Tasuza pointing at Naruto, "will a kid like this really capable of this mission?" Naruto ceased his actions showing that he clearly heard him.

Kakashi said something about him being a Jounin and not to worry. But I wasn't really paying attention, instead I was watching the village behind me. Was it a really good idea for me to go? What if Kinosuke were to pass on and I weren't here? And what's even worse is I never got to say goodbye.

"Hey geezer!" Naruto suddenly yelled "don't underestimate ninjas! I'm a great ninja!" He continued his typical speech about becoming the Hokage and then stated his name... again!

Tasuza took a swig of his drink which caused me to cringe, I never liked alcohol, not that I've ever tried it, it's against my morals and obviously, I'm underage. "The Hokage is the village's number one ninja right?" he asked looking at me. I nodded in reply which caused him to scoff, "I don't think a guy like you can become one" he stated at the orange ninja, which hit a massive nerve.

"SHUT UP! I'm willing to go through any hardship to become Hokage! If I become Hokage, you'll have to take notice of me!"

Tanuza began walking forward, "I won't kid, that is... if you ever become Hokage!" Naruto then went to attack him, but thankfully, I caught him just in time.

"LET ME AT HIM! JUST ONCE! LET ME AT HIM!"

"Will you calm down!" I scold "yelling at him isn't gonna earn you brownie points here."

Naruto turned it down a notch, but still glared daggers at the old man's back. I turned around once again to look at the village.

"Tomoko?" Kakashi spoke in a gentle tone. "Look, I know you're worried, which is why I had a talk with your brother. If anything where to happen he will send a message to me and hopefully, I can excuse you from mission."

I turned to him with a small smile, "I appreciate that Sensei, but I can't abandon you or those three for my personal reasons, otherwise I'll be lower than scrum."

Kakashi gave me a surprised look but then smiled, "fair enough, who knows, maybe leaving will take your mind off it."

'_That's what I'm hoping for.' _

* * *

Later on, we were long gone from the village, and walking down the main pathway to the docks. I actually took this time to study my vambraces in more detail. They truly were something spectacular, Hauro said that they were centuries old, but they looked good as new to me! All over the shiny metal were carvings of Yamakure writing, I'd seen something like it before, in the temples we had, but I could never read it's'my due to the fact that they were very, very ancient.

Confused? That's understandable. Well the truth is, the people of Yamakure have been around these lands, much longer than anyone. That was proved by the writings of the First Hokage, he wrote a whole book on how he discoverour my people and how they taught him the ways of Mitsuko. We were a lot more approachable back then.

No one really knows where exactly we came from, since we've been here for so long.

The was one question that still kept buzzing in my mind though.

How the heck do I use them?

Haruo said that they were indeed a weapon, but how? My first thought was that kunai knives shot out from them, or needles! But I couldn't find anything like that.

"Hey Tazuna-san?" Sakura spoke.

"What is it?"

"You're from the country of the Wave right?"

Tazuna threw her a look "Yeah what about it?"

"Kakashi-sensei" she chirped "are there also ninja in that country?"

"No" he answered. "There are no ninja in the Country of Wave, but while the culture customs of other countries may be different, hidden villages and ninja do exist." he continued to explain how ninja villages relied on its military force, to keep the countries equal and funded. The country hidden in the Waves however, was too small to be influenced by anyone, hence why it did not need a ninja village.

"Among the countries that have a ninja village" he continued, "the five countries of fire, water, lightning, wind and earth, occupy a large mass of land and their powers are immense, they are known as the Five Great Ninja Powers. Only the leader of each village is allowed to carry the name of 'Kage'".

"You missed one out" Naruto cut in.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi questioned.

Naruto then pointed towards me "there's the village hidden in the mountains right?"

It took a while for Sakura to catch on to what he was saying, but then gasped. "Of course! Although the mountain country were once considered a part of the earth country. They are now one of the most powerful and highly profitable countries around, surely they have a ninja village?"

"No" I answered causing everyone gave me a funny look. "The Mountain country is... well, they prefer not to get involved with the matters that don't concerned them".

"What do you mean?" Naruto quizzed.

I couldn't help but rub my forehead, "how can I put this simply, the village hidden in the Mountains aren't ruled in a way a ninja village is. So for example the Fire village is ruled by military power, and elects their most powerful ninja to rule as Hokage, every ninja village does this".

"That's right" Kakashi cut in "Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage. Otherwise known as 'the Five Kages' are the ninjas that reign over tens of thousands of ninjas, that exist in the countries throughout the world".

"Wow..." Sakura mused, "so Hokage-sama must be a great man!"

I gave her a unamused look, _'please, just like Naruto and Sasuke you're doubting him completely because of his age!'_

"Hey!" Kakashi called to them "you just doubted our Hokage didn't you?"

"NO!"

"You're all terrible liars" I told them.

"Don't worry" Kakashi reassured "we won't have any ninja battles in a C-rank mission".

"But... I'm still confused. If the Mountain Country isn't ruled by a Kage, then how is it so successful?" Sakura asked me.

I couldn't help but chuckle, "there are many ways to rule a country. Ninja countries use Military, smaller countries use a feudal lord. The Mountain country has a council of elders, who have gained vast amounts knowledge and exprience, and base their decisions on our religion, which is what divided us from the Earth country."

"Religion? I didn't know you were religious Tomoko" Sakura admitted, "what religion do you follow? The Will of Fire?"

"No, no... I follow the Will of Mitsuko".

"Mit-what who?"

But just as I was about to explain to her, I stepped into a massive puddle of water which completely soaked my right leg.

"Ah cripes!" I cursed as I stared down at my leg. Attempting to shake the water off, I stared at the puddle behind me.

'_That's strange, it hasn't rained for days. Why would there be a puddle of water in the first place!'_

"Tomoko come on!"

Hearing my name being called, I rushed to catch up but felt something was wrong, and the feeling was coming from my Vambrace, looking down I gasped.

'_What the hell! Why is it glowing green!"_

"Tomoko!" Kakashi cried "watch out!"

I turned around to see two ninjas, who I'd never seen before, charging towards me. Chains shot out from their arms and went to wrap themselves around me. But Kakashi pulled me out of the way resulting in him getting wrapped by the chains.

"SENSEI!"

But my cry was in vain, as the two ninja's mercilessly pulled the chains and ripped Kakashi to shreds. "One down... four to go!" one of them jeered.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed which snapped me out of my senses, grabbing my Kunai knife, I charge towards them aiming for a strike. But they were too quick and went for their next target.

"Second one!" the ninja's said gleefully, as they appeared behind Naruto, who wasn't moving a muscle.

"GOD DAMN IT NARUTO, MOVE IT!" I yelled at him but he was still frozen. I went to aid him, thankfully, Sasuke beat me to it, threw his Shuriken and aimed it perfectly in the middle of one of the many links of the chains, which pinned it to a nearby tree. He then threw a kunai to lock into place.

"It won't come out!" the ninja hissed, which was a good distraction for Sasuke to stand on both of their metal gloves, grab them and kick them right in the sucker! But the Ninjas were no fools, the chain became unattached from the cloves and moved to attack Tazuna, but Sakura stepped in front of him to shield him. They were fast, but I was faster, as I to joined her.

"Sakura get your weapon out! Tazuna is our priority!"

She gave me a nod and faced the two ninjas "Stay back!" She ordered, getting her Kunai out. But then someone appeared in front of us.

"Sasuke?"

He didn't say anything, not at first anyway. Now whether I was hearing things or not, I was sure he mumbled something along the lines of keeping a promise. But back to the matter at hand, I closed my eyes and waited to be struck by our enemy, only it never came.

Instead the sound of throttling rang in my ears. Reopening them, I felt a wave of relief swept through me, as I saw Kakashi-sensei holding both Ninja's by the neck. I Looked back at the where Kakashi was struck, to see a pile of cut up logs.

'_The replacement Justu... of course!' _

"Naruto, sorry for not helping you out straight away" Said Kakashi casually. "I got you hurt, I didn't expect you to freeze up like that." he then walked over to us "Sasuke, Tomoko, good job! You to Sakura."

But looking over at Naruto, I couldn't help but feel bad for the guy, so I decided to go and talk to him.

"Hey" Sasuke called to Naruto "Are you hurt? Mr Scary cat!"

Naruto looked like he was about to explode "SASUKE!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi ordered "There's poison in these guys' nails! We need to take poison out immediately!"

As I walked over, Sasuke was walking past me, with a very smug look on his face, so I didn't hesitate to slap the behind his head with the back of my hand. It wasn't like I knocked him off his feet, but there was enough force behind it to leave a sting. After mumbling some very colourful words under his breath, he furiously demanded why I hit him.

"That was not funny!" referring to what he just said to Naruto, "next time you get scared, I'll make sure I say the same thing to you and you'll know how it feels!"

Sasuke gave me his usual 'hm' "as if!" Choosing to not react to his cockiness, I turned back to Naruto "Stay still Naruto, I need to leech the poison out" I told him as I talked.

Kakashi glanced at the bridge builder "Tazuna-san".

"Er... yes?" he replied nervously.

"I need to talk to you" was all he said and went to tie the two ninja's to a nearby tree. By the time I reached Naruto, the two crooks where tied up. "These guys are Chuunin-class ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist" he stated, "they are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter the cost!"

"How were you able to detect our action?" one of the mist ninjas asked.

"It hasn't rained for the past few days" Kakashi said casually, "and its sunny today so no puddles should exist, I noticed it when Tomoko trod in it". He gave me a smile "so thanks Tomoko!"

"Er... you're welcome?" I asked more than said.

"Why did you let the kids fight when you knew that?" Tazuna asked him.

Then I suddenly figured it out "you wanted to see who the target was."

Kakashi nodded and looked at Tazuna "we did not hear anything about you being targeted by ninja" he stated. "Your request was to protect you from armed groups, like gangs and robbers. This is a mission that's above a B rank, our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B rank." Tazuna gazed down to his shoes, to which Kakashi told him that he realised he had his reasons for lying, but explained it could cause trouble for the team by doing so.

"This mission is to big for us..." said Sakura "we should quit."

"And what? Leave Tazuna to die!" I snapped "have some respect Sakura!"

"But Naruto's wound needs to be treated! We have to go back!" she shot back.

This made me scoff "please, what do you think I'm about to do?" I then pulled a small medical knife out of my bag. "Okay Naruto if you just... NARUTO WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I shrieked as he pulled out his Kunai knife and stabbed his own hand where his poisoned wound was.

Blood spurted everywhere making me cringe, "Why am I so different... Why am I always... Damn it!"

'_Naruto...'_

"I should be stronger..." he continued, "I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced my techniques every day!" The Blood from his wound wasn't as excessive as before, but it was still slowly oozing its way down his hand and onto the floor. "I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me. I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things, I'm not going to lose to Sasuke or Tomoko!"

"Er... Naruto?"

"I vow to this pain in my left hand, that I'm going to protect him this Kunai!"

"Naruto?"

He then turned to the others with a determined smile "the mission is still on!"

"NARUTO!"

"What!"

I sighed in annoyance, "it's great that you managed to get the poison out, but you still need to stay still!"

"Er... why?"

Kakashi walked over "You're going to die from blood loss if any more blood comes out." Naruto turned very blue in the face, especially after Kakashi got closer and told him that it was not good if it wasn't stopped straight away, causing Naruto to completely freak out.

"Sensei! I need to him stay still!" I scold.

Kakashi kneeled down to his level, "I'll look at the wound Tomoko, you should tend to your own."

"My... I'm not wounded though..." but I stopped in mid sentence, when I noticed my left arm was...

_'bleeding!? What the hell!? I didn't get hurt!'_

I went to take my Vambrace off, only to feel a strong singe on my fingertips!

"OW!"

"What's up with you?"

I looked up to see Sasuke giving me a weird looks, from my face to my arm, he to noticed the blood. I decided to check my 'wound' when I had more privacy, the last thing my team needs is to worry about something that probably isn't even that serious.


	13. Welcome to the land Hidden in the Waves

"What do you think she's doing?" I heard Naruto ask in a whisper.

"Beats me" answered Sakura in the same tone, "she's been sat like that for twenty minutes."

I decided to ignore them, due to the fact that I was concentrating on silent prayer in my head. It was essential for me to pray twice a day for one hour. I had my legs crossed and tucked under, with my hands pressed together and my fingers spread apart. My eyes were firmly shut, so I could focus more on my prayer and not get distracted.

We were currently on a small fishing boat crossing into the land of Wave, Naruto was sat right at the head of the boat, Sakura and Tazuna were sat on the left whilst Kakashi, myself and Sasuke were sat on the right.

"Guys..." Kakashi spoke "she's praying, so leave her be."

"Praying?" Sakura whispered "about what?"

"You can ask her went she's done."

I then reopened my eyes to see both Naruto and Sakura really close to my face, making a wet drop from on the back of my head.

"Guys, it's impossible to focus with you this close to my face."

But still they watched me as if they were kids at a zoo. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I sat back into a more comfortable sitting position. I'm never going to get a prayer in at this rate, Haruo would have my neck if he were here!

"The mist is so thick..." commented Sakura "I can't see what's ahead."

Naruto turned back forward and glared ahead, as if he was trying to make out what was in front of him. But it was no use, I'm surprised we haven't crashed yet it was that thick.

"Er Tomoko?" I turned my head towards Sakura, "you er... never finished your explanation about your religion."

I blinked, was she actually interested? Or was she just asking to kill time? "Can I ask why you want to know?"

"I-I just... I guess I just wanna get to know ya! Is that a crime?"

I gave her a suspicious look, but I decided to tell her about it anyway, it's not like I'm going to be struck down by lightening. "Back in Yamakure, as I told you before, we base the countries welfare, military force and funding on our religion, which is the Will of Mitsuko, Goddess of Order."

"Goddess of Order?"

"Yes" I confirmed "we believe there are two forces, that drive and shape events, the two forces are known as Order and Chaos, each force has a god. Mitsuko is the Goddess of Order, she's... everything good and pure in the world."

Sakura nodded as she took the information in "And the other would be..."

I turned serious, "the other would be Yaso... God of corruption, war and destruction. He is Mitsuko's biggest foe and..." I hesitated, "the reason my mother was taken away from me."

Sakura gave a shocked look "what?"

"I've said too much already, I don't really like talking about my mother"

"Okay..." she said, "but can I just ask... why are there two forces? Wouldn't it be better if there was just Order?"

I shook my head "no, both forces need to be balanced for everything to run as normal."

"I..." she started "don't follow..."

I sighed, I was getting a little tired of explain this, but surprisingly someone beat me to it!

"Basically..." said Sasuke, "if there's more than the other, the world will begin to spiral out of control. If there is too much Order, everything would remain static, we need to chaos to evolve and learn. If there is too much Chaos, then there would be nothing but corruption and war, meaning humanity would slowly tear itself apart, therefore Order is needed to keep Chaos in check."

Everyone stared at Sasuke with a stunned expression, heck even I was speechless!

"Wow!" breathed Sakura "you're so knowledgeable and cool Sasuke-kun! It goes to show that you paid attention at the academy!"

"Hm, I didn't learn it at the academy" Sasuke shot at her.

"Huh... then where did you learn it?"

"You mean you don't know?" Naruto asked her.

She gave him a puzzled look and asked him what he was talking about, I already didn't like were this was going.

Naruto laughed and placed his arms behind his head, "Tomoko and Sasuke grew up together, even I knew that!"

Sakura looked like she'd just been shot, and by look on her fac,e I wouldn't be surprised if she was crying from the inside, saying that I had an advantage of taking away her Sasuke or something along them lines. I mean... it is Sakura after all.

"We should be at the bridge soon" stated the boat driver, "if we move along side of the bridge, we'll be at the Country of Wave." After a while, something large and tall began appearing through the fog. I had to squint my eyes at first, but as we got closer, the outline got clearer.

'_Oh my god!' _I thought gaping the enormous bridge in front of us.

"IT'S HUGE!" Naruto exclaimed, this made the boat driver snap at him to be quiet and explained that he was hiding in the mist, and why he was rowing and not using the engine.

"Naruto, if we get caught, we'll be in trouble..." I whispered to him.

Naruto immediately covered his mouth with his hands with a panicked expression, which made me chuckle slightly, Naruto always made me laugh.

"Tazuna-san..." spoke Kakashi, "Before the boat gets to the pier, there's something I need to ask you. The identity of the ones who are after you, and why they are after you... Or we can call this mission off when you get ashore."

Tazuna sighed, I had a feeling he knew this was coming, "it looks like I have to tell the real story..." he paused, "I mean, I would like for you to hear my story." He then cleared his throat "As you said, this mission is most likely out of your job description. An extremely terrible man is after my life."

"An extremely terrible man?" Kakashi repeated.

"Yes" Tazuna replied.

"Who is it?"

I saw Tazuna glare slightly "you have all at least heard of the name, Marine transportation billionaire Gatoh."

I blinked, that name did sound familiar...

* * *

"_Haruo-Aaron!" I cheered running over to him and Kinosuke, but he didn't reply, it seemed him and the horse were watching something._

"_Aaron?" I repeated as I stood next to him, Haruo gave me a quick glance but returned his gaze forward. I to looked forward, to see a short stocky man in a very smart suit. Either side of him were two samurai who looked like they were his body guards._

"_Who is that Aaron?"_

_But Haruo didn't answer he just kept at firm gaze as the man was talking to one of the council elders, they greeted each other with a handshake and had some small chatter. _

"_I believe his name is Gatoh" Kinosuke answered, as he dug the ground with his hoof "a businessman of some sorts."_

"_Why is he here?" Haruo asked him._

_The horse snorted "I don't pay any mind to politics, come on children, we should head home..."_

* * *

For some reason, the flashback made my head throb. Surprised by the pain, my head suddenly felt heavy as I held it in my hand. I ignored the fact that Sasuke noticed and threw me a puzzled look, it was a good thing that he didn't question me at the moment.

"Gatoh?" Kakashi said surprised "The one from the Gatoh Company? He's one of the world's richest men!"

"Who's that? What?" piped Naruto.

"Yes" Tazuna confirmed, "he is the president of a marine transportation company on the outside. But underground, he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does nasty jobs like takeovers of other companies and countries".

He then explained that a year ago Gatoh, set his sights on the Country of Wave and used violence and wealth to take over the island's sea traffic and transportation. "On an island like the Country of Wave..." he continued, "controlling the sea means ruling over the wealth, politics and the people of this island. And the one thing Gatoh is afraid of, is the completion of the bridge that has been under construction for quite some time."

"I see" spoke Sakura "So you, as the one building the bridge, became an obstacle to him."

Sasuke looked at his feet "then those ninjas were sent by Gatoh."

"But I don't understand" said Kakashi "He's a dangerous man that uses ninjas, why did you hide that fact when you came to us?"

Tazuna looked down in shame, which made me realise...

"You couldn't afford anything above a C rank..." I stated softly "could you?"

Tazuna nodded "we are a very poor country, even the Feudal Lord does not have that much money. If you quit your mission after I land, I'll be killed for sure!" but he then threw a very fake, innocent smile, "but there's no need to blame yourselves... only my cute eight year old grandson will cry and cry and cry some more!"

I felt a wet drop on the side of my head, was he trying to guilt trip us?

"And! My daughter will just hold a grudge against Konoha ninja and live a lonely life, but it's not your fault" He concluded simply.

We all looked at each other and Kakashi scratched his head in frustration. "We can't just dump him sensei" I told him. "Remember... you said not helping a friend is worst than scum."

Kakashi sighed, "I guess it can't be helped. We will continue escorting you." I could tell Tazuna was doing some sort of silence cheer, because of the boasting look on his face.

Everything once again turned quiethoughts made me think back to my flashback. Tazuna said that underground Gatoh was a gangster, were the council aware of that at the time? That fact that they were communicating with him was as weird as it was since Mistuko rules out any kind of exchange of greed.

'_It must have been for some new project plan or something...' _I first thought. But, then I remembered, that the architecture of the city hadn't been touched in over a thousand years, it just didn't make sense to me...

"Tomoko?"

"Hm?" I hummed looking up at my sensei.

"Are you alright?" he asked "you seem distracted."

I gave him a reassuring smile, "no it's nothing, just reliving some memories".

* * *

As the boat arrived at its destination, I couldn't help but take in the scenery around me, even though the land of wave was small, it was very beautiful.

"This is as far as I can go" the boat driver told his friend "later."

Tazuna gave him a nod "sure, thanks a lot." The boat driver gave one final farewell, before sailing across the lake.

The bridge builder turned to face us,"Alright! Take me home safely!"

I felt wet drop on the side of my head, "just because we agreed to still protect you, doesn't mean you can boss us around…"

"ONWARD!"

My eye began twitching _'now you're pushing it….' _I thought as we started walking.

As we walked, my thoughts went back to Gatoh again. I don't know why I remembered that moment, mainly because I don't remember much else. Don't ask me why, but the only thing I could remember was gold fields, gold fields and my family. My father was never in the picture, Haruo and my mother never talked about him and I was banned to ask anything about him. I never questioned it when I was younger, but the more I thought about him, the more I wondered… did he love me? Was he there when I was born? And why did he leave?

I think I'll question my brother about it after I'm done with this mission.

"THERE!"

"Huh?" but I was cut off by a kunai knife nearly hitting me, in my panic I only just managed to dodge it. Once I controlled my breathing, I noticed it was Naruto that threw it.

"NARUTO WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Oh… it was just a mouse" was all he said with a smug expression.

"Stop showing off!" Sakura barked "there was nothing there!"

"Please Naruto, don't use your throwing knives so abusively" Kakashi ordered, but he sounded a bit shaky, he still must have been getting over the shock.

"HEY YOU DAWF!" Tazuna bellowed "DON'T SCARE US!"

But Naruto ignored him and scouted the area "I see someone hiding over there!"

"Naruto…" I hissed.

"No he's over there!" he yelled pointing in the other direction. He then turned around and threw another Kunai knife, into the bushes.

"Alright that's it!" I snapped grabbing his ear, "you throw another knife and I'll have your head!"

"Ow! But I really did sense something!"

"Liar!" Sakura pointed storming over "Cut it out!"

Wow... For once me and Sakura agreed on something, is there a pig flying nearby?

"You nearly hit me god damn it!" I shouted and let go of him.

He mumbled sorry as Kakashi went into the bushes where he threw his knife. There it was stuck in a truck on a tree, but just below it was a petrified rabbit.

"Naruto!" Sakura screeched running over to it "Look what you've done!"

Naruto immediately ran to it aswell, and picked it up "I'm so sorry!" he told it as he hugged the poor thing, but the rabbit still seemed to be in a state of shock.

'_Wait a minute…' _I suddenly thought, getting a good look at it.

_'Isn't that a snow rabbit?'_

I looked over at Kakashi and noticed the stern expression on his face, he noticed it too. Snow rabbits only have white fur during the winter, the short days. I knew this because these had plenty of them up in the mountains, and due to it being so cold up there, they're fur was always white. Yet we are in the middle of spring? It didn't make sense, unless….

A gust of wind rushed around me, I could hear its whispers… someone was here!

"EVERYONE DUCK!" I shouted, everyone looked at me baffled for a second. But soon noticed a huge sword come flying through the air like a boomerang, and it was aiming for all their heads. Thankfully, everyone ducked in time and the sword stabbed itself in a tree. Soon enough, a tall man appeared standing on the handle with is back facing us.

Glancing over his shoulder I could see his steely eyes glaring at the bridge builder, like a predator he watched his every move. I couldn't tell what expression he had, because his whole face was bandaged up and his ninja forehead protector was placed at the side of his head, this guy meant business… and his business was Tazuna!


	14. Zabuza of the hidden mist

'_This day just went from bad to worse…' _I thought, as the tall Ninja glared down at us. But that's not all that was bothering me, I swear I could feel the metal on my vambrace getting hotter. It wasn't painful, but it was as if it was telling me that danger was near.

Kakashi stepped forward and mused "oh my, my. You're Momochi Zabuza, the exiled ninja of the hidden mist…"

'_Exiled ninja? Well that's just swell' _

Suddenly, Naruto went charging towards him, only to have Kakashi halt his movements, "You're in the way" he told him "stay back, everyone…"

"WHY!" Naruto demanded.

Kakashi kept his focus on Zabuza, and explained that this one was in a completely different league than the ones we confronted before. He then lifted his hand up to where his covered up eye was and grabbed a hold of his headband.

"If he's our enemy" I heard him whisper "I can't win like this…"

"I'm guessing you are Kakashi the Sharingan user" stated Zabuza, making me narrow my eyes.

'_Did… did he say Sharingan?'_

I glanced at Sasuke to see that he to had a confused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry" said Zabuza cutting off my train of thought, "but I'll need you to hand over the old geezer…"

"Everyone, form a swastika formation around Tazuna" Kakashi ordered us, "protect him and don't join the battle."

"What?" Sakura gasped.

"Remember your teamwork" he told us as he began to lift up his forehead protector. Once he removed it completely from his eye, I could see a long, vertical scar across it and slowly… he opened his eye to reveal a red cornea and around the pupil were three tomoes.

'_It is the Sharingan!' _I thought _'But… that's impossible… he's not…."_

"I'm honoured that I can see the Sharingan I've heard so much about" mused Zabuza.

Naruto growled "all you lot keeping saying is Sharingan, but what is it?"

"Sharingan…" Sasuke began, "The eye creates it, and it is the power that the pupil generates. Ones who use doujutsu are said to have eye powers that can see through all genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu, and cancel their effects." He then continued to explain that the Sharingan is one of the various types that doujutsu users possess.

"But that's not the only ability it possesses…" Sasuke mutter loud enough for us all to hear.

"Correct" chipped in Zabuza, "The scary part is that Sharingan can understand how an opponent's techniques work, and copy it…"

Suddenly a thick mist began to surround us, making it nearly impossible to see anything in front of me.

"When I was in the Hidden Village of the Mist's assassination squad" I heard Zabuza say, "your information was listed in the bingo book, asking for your capture."

I was assuming he was talking to Kakashi, who was now a faint outline in the mist.

Zabuza then continued "it also notes this, the man who copied over a 1000 techniques, Kakashi the copy ninja…"

'_A 1000 techniques! That's insane!' _

But there was still one thought plaguing my mind. As far as I was aware, only certain members of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke's clan, had this technique. And I know for a fact that Kakashi wasn't a Uchiha. I once again looked over a Sasuke, hoping he had at least some knowledge on this, but he looked just as clueless as I did.

I'll never forget the first time I saw those red eyes…

* * *

"_Are you sure Itachi-Sama won't mind?"_

_Sasuke threw me a cute smile as he climbed to the top of the pile of rocks, __"I do this all the time, we just can't interrupt him!"_

_I felt a wet drop on the side of my head, "but you always interrupt him…"_

"_Look there he is!" Sasuke whispered, completely ignoring what I just said. Sasuke reached his hand out, "come on Tomoko-Chan!" I quickly grabbed his hand and joined him on the rock. Below us, we could see Itachi standing in the middle of several targets scattered around the forest. It was then I realised just how high we were._

"_Sasuke… I don't like it up here…" I told him feeling nervous._

"_Trust me!" he urged "it's totally worth it… just watch."_

_In the end I just decided to suck it up and watch Itachi, I didn't see what all the fuss was about… he was just standing there. But suddenly he disappeared in a blur, he started throwing kunai knives in all directions, some bounced off others to reach their target. When he finally reappeared agaim, all the knives where now stabbed in the bulls eye of every target._

"_Wow…" I breathed as I leaned closer to the edge to get a better look._

"_Told ya" said Sasuke in a smug tone. I continued to shift closer to the edge, but little to my knowledge, the rock we were on was very old and fragile, so with my full weight and a small crack on the stone, the end where most of my upper body was positioned crumbled off._

"_TOMOKO-CHAN!" Sasuke shrieked as I went tumbling down. My first reaction to what was happening was screaming, it was a long drop that would definitely give me a broken bone. I firmly closed my eyes and waited for the painful impact…_

_But I didn't feel a hard surface of the ground, nor any pain on my body. Instead, I felt a warm, broad chest heaving in and out heavily and cotton of a shirt._

"_TOMOKO-CHAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" Sasuke demanded as he ran over. Finally opening my eyes, I realised I was being held, bridal style in someone's arms._

"_Sasuke… what did I tell you about climbing up there?" Itachi asked softly but sternly._

"_I'm sorry Nii-san…"_

_Looking up at the older boy, I gasped when I saw that his once dark, charcoal eyes were now a beautiful shade of crimson red._

_Itachi stared at me long and hard "are you alright Tomoko-Chan?"_

_I didn't answer, because I was too entranced by his eyes. I had never seen anything like this, already I thought of him as a very beautiful young man, the crimson shade only defined his looks. Itachi asked the question again, but I couldn't hear his voice. everything around me went silent. _

_Itachi must have realised waht I was staring at, because he closed his eyes for a minute, and when he reopened them, it was back to the Uchiha __charcoal _black.

"_I'm sorry Tomoko-Chan, I didn't mean to scare you" he told me some what awkwardly with a soft smile "come on… er should head home…" _

* * *

"Let's cut the chit chat" I heard Zabuza say, bringing me out of that memory, "I have to kill the geezer right away."

Immediately me and my team surrounded Tazuna. Sasuke was in the middle, with Naruto on his right and me on his left. Sakura, was watching Tazuna's back. All four of us had our kunai ready… Zabuza, clearly amused by it all remarked on how it seemed he'd have to kill Kakashi first. In a blink of an eye, Zabuza took out his massive sword from the tree and was now standing on the water.

"There he is!" Naruto stated.

"No way…" mumbled Sakura looking from the corner of her eye, "he's standing on the water?" I was about to say a remark at her, but unfortunately now really wasn't the time. Squinting my eyes slightly, I could see that a light, tornado of water circled around him.

"Mist Concealment."

Naruto gasped "he… he disappeared?"

"Sensei?"

"He'll try to eliminate me first" he explained to Sakura "but…"

"Be honest Kakashi-sensei, what are we up against here?" I asked him as I attempted to look through the thick mist.

"Momochi Zabuza" Kakashi began explaining' "He was in the Hidden Village of the Mist's ANBU and was known for his 'silent killing' technique."

"Silent?" Naruto nervously repeated.

"It's just as the name implies, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and carried out in absolute silence. It's possible you'll be dead before you even realise it, And I cannot use my Sharingan to its fullest potential, so don't let your guard down."

"Spectacular…" I muttered sarcastically.

"But if you fail, you're only going to die."

I felt my eye twitch "you sure know how to give a pep talk sensei."

"The mist is getting thicker!" stated Naruto nervously.

"Were surrounded by ocean, it's bound to happen Naruto" I told him. But even telling myself that didn't calm me down, as I could no longer see Kakashi at all.

"Eight points."

I felt my muscles stiffen at the sound on Zabuza's deep voice, sending unpleasant chills down my spine as he continued.

"The Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, vein, collarbone, kidney and heart. Now which vital organ do you want to get struck at?" he asked menacingly, and also gleefully, as if he could sense our fear. Kakashi was nothing but a silhouette in in front of us now, but I could make out his hands movements into a symbol, and as quick as light the mist suddenly dispersed.

How did he do that? Were we under some genjustu or something? Then out of no where, I felt something shake in fear on my left. I first assumed was Sakura getting scared, only to remember thatshe was on my right.

_'No freaking way!'_

Glancing to my left, I saw to my surprise, Sasuke quietly freaking out at was he was seeing in front of him. He could sense thirst for blood from our enemy, hell I could! Slowly he began to move his kunai above his stomach…

_'Wait what?!'_

The stupid idiot was resulting to pain to snap him out of it, which was foolish.

Quickly, I grabbed his arm to stop him from stabbing himself, "calm down!" I hissed.

Sasuke gave me a shocked look, as if for a moment he forgot where he was. He looked… relived, but was still shaken a little. This was a perfect opportunity to make a sly comment to him about calling Naruto a scary-cat. But looking into his fear stricken eyes, I couldn't do it. Because for some weird reason… I saw a glimpse of my best friend again.

"Sasuke" I heard Kakashi say, making him snap out of it completely, "Don't worry, I'll protect the four of you with my life." Both me and Sasuke stared at our sensei, who turned his head and smiled, reassuring us that he wouldn't let anyone die. Sasuke nodded but then glanced down, my gaze followed to see my hand was still griping his arm. As fast as I grabbed it, I let it go and tried my best to ignore his glances.

Now wasn't the time to feel flustered.

"I don't know about that" I heard from behind me, that one sentence made my heart stop. My muscles tense up to the notion that our killer was standing right behind me, ready to strike without hestiation.

"This is the end!" stated Zabuza and went to swing his sword, suddenly I could feel my vambrace scorching my flesh making me cry out in pain, it made my gaze hazy. Which meant I didn't actually see Kakashi stopping Zabuza in the nick of time, by stabbing him in the side. When the pain subsided, I scanned the area to see everyone scattered around, all of us watching Kakashi and Zabuza, looking just as stunned as I was.

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled pointing "Behind you!"

Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, it was then I realised that it was a water clone that Kakashi attacked. But Kakashi wasn't stupid, in fact it wasn't him at all, he to was a water clone!

Zabuza didn't have time to analyse the situation, because the real Kakashi came behind him and held a kunai knife at his throat.

"Don't move" he said calmly "this is the end."

I let out a shaky breath, thanking Mistuko that we had overcame the situation. That is, until I heard a deep throaty chuckle from Zabuza.

_'Why is he laughing?'_

"Is this the end?" he questioned "you don't understand, you can't defeat me with just your indiscriminate imitations, I can assure you that."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, as Zabuza continued to compliment him on how his Sharingan was able to copy the water clone perfectly when reassuring Sasuke. "By making your clone speak as if it was the real one, you diverted my attention to the clone. While the real one used the Mist Concealment technique to hide and observe my movements". He was silent for a moment, as if he was somewhat excited about something "However… I'm not easy to defeat!"

'_Shit!' _I thought as I soon figured out that the real Zabuza was behind Kakashi, "that one's fake too!" shouted Naruto. Kakashi went to counter, but it was too late as Zabuza gave him one swift kick into the river, which at first I believed would give Sensei the advantage…

But when am I ever right?

"SENSEI!" Naruto called desperately as we saw our teacher trapped in some sort of water prison, and Zabuza holding it together with his chakra.

* * *

**urgh I hate it I hate it I HATE IT! So sorry its taken this long but I'm struggling so much with this scene! so bare with me :(**


	15. The hunter-nin

**Wow! I'm probably the most hated writer in history! I'm sorry for such a long delay, I know I didn't come back when I should, things have been nuts in my wonderland. BUT! I'm back! and I have finally finished this bitch of a chapter...**

**I hope you enjoy it and I am working my butt off to finish the next chapter**

**Videokid**

**xo**

* * *

Zabuza let out a throaty, disturbing chuckle "you fell for it! This is a special prison that you can't escape from" he explained, "You give me a hard time when you're moving." All Kakashi could do was glare at him, as Zabuza told him in a sickly sweet voice that he'd deal with him later. Which meant he was going to turn his attention on us.

'_Shit!' _I cursed in my head, what the hell were we supposed to do now!?

Not wasting anytime, Zabuza created another water clone, making Naruto cower in fear. Clone Zabuza, obviously found this very amusing. "The four of you have forehead protectors on as if you think you're ninjas" he told us, "but ninja refers to someone who has gone through numerous life and death situations".

As much as I hated to admit it, the bastard had a point.

"In other words" he continued, "you can only call yourself a ninja, when you appear in my bingo book."

Okay forget what I just said, this guy is a total nut case!

"You three aren't ninja" Clone Zabuza stated and made a chakra symbo,l causing the mist to sworn around us, making him completely invisible again. Damn it! This guy had us hook line in sinker, there has to be a way to trace him. I obviously can't see him, and hearing him is out of the question, due to the fact this guy moves... like the wind?

'_that's it! The wind!'_

Closing my eyes slowly, I listened to the bristling of the trees, and whispers the breeze. They were telling me that Clone Zabuza was close to an attack, but I couldn't make who he was aiming for first. I was already too late, as he went straight for Naruto and kicked him in the face!

"NARUTO!" I cried and went to break his fall, by jumping behind him and letting him land on top me, it probably wasn't my smartest move as it bloody hurt!

"Tomoko-chan? Are you alright?" He asked slightly dazed from the kick.

I looked up at Naruto and noticed his headband was missing, it was now on the floor with Clone Zabuza giant foot stepping on it. "You're just kids" he told us harshly.

"GET TAZUNA-SAN AND RUN!" Kakashi ordered "YOU CAN'T WIN AGINST HIM!". Slowly I stood and looked at Kakashi with utter disbelief, does he seriously think we could out run him!?

"He can't move as long as he has me trapped in this hydro-prison! He also won't be able to use his water clone once you get away from him! SO RUN!"

The water has clearly gotten to Kakashi's head, even if we were able to escape Zabuza's clone. Kakashi would get killed, and it was only a matter of time before he found us and did the same! We couldn't keep guarding Tazuna either, because he'd just get past us again. I glanced over a Sasuke and he glanced right back. For the first time in years, it seemed we were on the same page, we had no choice but to try and free Kakashi.

"We have to do it!" Sasuke ordered and proceeded to charge at Zabuza.

"Sasuke wait a moment! You're not thinking rationally here!" I yelled after him, granted I agreed that we had to attack him, but charging at him head on was a reckless move.

My cry was all in vein, as he went on the attack with his kunai, only to have them all swatted away by Zabuza's gigantic sword. Knowing his next move Sasuke jumped upwards and prepared a kunai knife to stab his target, but Zabuza effortlessly caught him by the next and proceeded to choke him.

"Sasuke!" I yelled and charged to help him, but my actions came to a screeching halt, as Zabuza chucked Sasuke at me, causing us both to crash against one another and for me to land very awkwardly on my head. Everything became a blur but I could valuly outline Zabuza towering over Naruto.

"Nar… Naruto run… get out of there!" I called very weakly and then, blackness…

* * *

_**I was running through a golden field, laughing uncontrollably as my brother chased me. "You can't catch me Aaron!" I yelled in a sing-song voice.**_

"_**Just you wait!" he shouted back slightly out of breath.**_

_**I stopped to turn around and face him with a smile, but that smile soon dropped as sudden the sky turned a crimson red, the once golden fields was now a waste land.**_

"_**Tomoko!" Haruo yelled despartely, catching up to me, "run! You have to run!" but out of the blue, flames ingulfed around him.**_

**_"HARUO-AARON!_**_**!"**_

_**Before my eyes, his flesh began melting slowly, and painfully. The life in his eyes faded and his existence turned to ash.**_

_**"Aaron!" I cried.**_

_**I could hear screaming, screams of pain and death, sounds of blades making deadly contact with human flesh. The notion of it made me scared, I wanted my mother! Where was my mother!?**_

"**ácennicge (mother)**_**!?"**_

_**No reply.**_

"**_Aaron_**_**!?"**_

_**Still nothing.**_

_**But the flames continued to grow, the screams got louder. I was terrified, so terrified, all I could do was crawl into a ball and hope it would all end.**_

"**SASUKE-KUN!"**

_**I shot my head up, that sounded like Sakura. Then I could hear violent throttling, it was male, but far much deeper than naruto's.**_

"_**I have… to… help him…"**_

* * *

Slowly opening my eyes, the first thing I felt was a throbbing pain from the back of my head, the first thing I saw Sasuke being crushed my Zabuza's giant foot.

"Die…" I heard our enemy mutter.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed and proceed with the shadow clone justu, creating around fifty Narutos.

"Oh, the shadow replication technique?" Zabuza mused "and you've replicated quite a few!"

All the clones got their kunai knifes out, and yelled "here I come!" and proceed to attack. Now with Zabuza distracted, I could get Sasuke out of harms way. Ignoring my dizziness, I charged towards him and yanked him to a safer distance.

Sasuke looked back at me with a surprised expression "you?"

"Whatever you two are planning to do, it better work" I whispered.

"Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly yelled as he threw something in the air, with ease he caught it and smirked. I was right, they did have a plan!

Sasuke unfolded the weapon that was thrown to him, "The Fuuma Shuriken, the shadow windmill." I think I was catching on to what the plan was, but for this to fully work the real Zabuza needed to be distracted. I glanced at Sasuke who gave me a stealthy nod, I knew what I had to do.

"A shuriken won't work on me" the clone Zabuza stated smugly. Immediately I set my role into action and charged at the real Zabuza. I proceed to throw kunai knives once I got close enough.

"Silly girl" he mumbled and swatted the knives away with his giant sword. He was fast, but I just managed to grab his attention long enough for Sasuke to strike. Getting the hint, Sasuke threw the windmill Shuriken at what looked like his clone. But to Zabuza's surprise it went straight for the real him.

"I see, so you're going after the real one this time" Zabuza stated staring at the fast approaching weapon, but as if it was a ball, he caught it with his free hand declaring that it was too easy.

'_Don't get too cocky' _I thought as I watched him realise, that there was another windmill Shuriken heading towards from behind. _'_

_Please… let this work!'_

Zabuza, without breaking a sweat, jumped over the hurled Shuriken. But I was expecting that, and like the flick of a switch, smoke puffed out around the shuriken, to reveal it was actually Naruto throwing a Kunai knife directly at Zabuza.

"This is the spot!" Naruto screamed.

Zabuza, who was now at risk of majorly wounding himself, had no choice but to release the water prison thus freeing Kakashi. Angered by what just happened, Zabuza went to attack Naruto with the caught Shuriken. He made a big mistake, as he forgot that there was a certain Jounin Ninja he had just freed. In the nick of time Kakashi stopped the attack with the back of his hand, letting Naruto fall in the water.

"Naruto, that plan was impressive" said Kakashi, "you all sure have grown". Naruto laughed, and he proceeded to explain that when Zabuza flung all his clones, the real Naruto transformed in a windmill Shuriken, making it look like it came out of his back and he threw it to Sasuke.

"Sasuke and Tomoko noticed it was me right after he caught it, he then took out his own shuriken as Tomoko distracted the real Zabuza, and used the shadow shuriken technique. I hid under the real shuriken, and went straight for Zabuza."

I nodded "we knew we couldn't beat Zabuza by ourselves, so instead we aimed to break the water prison and managed to get rid of the water clone!"

Sasuke smirked "it was just luck" which caused me to scowl, of course he would go back to his arrogant ways! That move just there would not have been successful if we didn't work together. But before I could complain any further, the area around me suddenly started spinning and I couldn't focus properly.

"Tomoko?" I heard Sasuke call. I attempted to scan my surroundings, but everything was in a blur, I must of hit my head harder than I assumed. My legs began to feel like jellow, and holding my footing became increasingly hard to keep.

"Oy Tomoko!?" Sasuke called again, but this time with more urgency. "Damn it! Sakura don't let your guard down!" Immediately I felt someone grab me by the waist and carry me back to where the bridge builder is, carefully he sat me down.

"Tomoko?" Sasuke called waving his hand in front of my face. I could hear the sounds of hand symbols and chanting, Kakashi and Zabuza must be engaging in battle.

"Damn it Tomoko! Snap out of it" Sasuke ordered giving me a light slap on the face, it didn't hurt, but it was enough make me conscience again.

"I'm fine…" I told him "protect Tazuna."

"Bridge builder, make sure she stays awake" Sasuke ordered and turned back to the action. I wasn't really focusing on the battle that much, but I could hear the violent splashing of water and sprays of it hitting my face. Then out of no where, a gust of wind flew past me, speaking soft whispers in my ear, telling me we were being watched.

I couldn't tell whether it was an enemy, or an ally. Either way, we were no longer alone and I needed to find out where exactly this person was. However, with an intense battle going on, getting full focus isn't as easy as it sounds… and having dizzy spells wasn't helping my case either.

"He's moving just like him!" I heard Tazuna gasp "and with such perfect timing!"

"What's going on Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, I could vaguely make out his tall frame from where I was sitting.

I could also hear Kakashi talking occasionally, which from the tone Zabuza was using… was throwing him off. "What you're doing is just copying, nothing original!" Zabuza yelled with a shaky voice. "YOU CAN'T BEAT ME, YOU MONKEY!" but Kakashi said that sentence at the exact same time, which really unhinged his opponent.

Kakashi was clearly using his Sharigan to toy with Zabuza's head… and it was working. Once again I tried to focus on the individual I sensed earlier, I had to find out if this person was our enemy. But the sound of Zabuza's screams pulled me out of my focus, making me pay attention to what was going on. A wave a water came crashing on us, which definitely woke me up and I grabbed the first thing I could reach, which happened to be the back of Sasuke's shirt, to help me stand up and not get swept away.

The winds around me suddenly began the screech, the secret person was on the move!

I attempted to pin point their location, but it was downright impossible due to the massive tsunami that Kakashi had created to pin Zabuza against a tree, and use Kunai knives to hold his limbs in place.

"This is the end" stated Kakashi from the branch above. Slowly the water began to calm down back into the lake. I finally released the breath I was holding and let go of Sasuke's shirt, I'd only just realised that I had been gripping it since I stood up.

"Why…?" asked Zabunza as he groaned painfully "Can you see the future?"

Kakashi stared at him for a little while before answering "Yeah…"

That one word that past his lips made me narrow my eyes _'why did he just lie?'_

Kakashi prepared himself for his finale strike, for a brief moment I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch. Until I heard the sounds of something small, but sharp and deadly shooting towards Zabuza.

"FOUND YOU!" I yelled throwing my last kunai knife, but it was no good as I once again had a dizzy spell and missed my target.

However I wasn't far off, as I caught the stranger's coat, ripping it slightly.

The needles pierced through Zabuza's neck violently, and his large body went crashing to the ground, but I didn't take my eyes off of the new presence. From what I could gather he was defiantly a ninja, but this one had a mask over his face. His long pitch black hair was tied up in a bun, with bangs falling at either side of his head. Judging from his height he was about the same size as Sasuke.

'_The mask… I've seen something like that before'_

"It was true" spoke the anonymous ninja, who I can confirm is a boy now "he did die".

We stared at him for a while, and he stared back as his he was analysing us, finally he turned his head to me.

"I am curious…"

I blinked "you talking to me?"

"Yes" he answered simply, "how were you aware of my presences?"

The others, including Kakashi, stared at me with a shocked expression. But I just continued staring at the young man in front of me.

"Instinct" was all I said, well I wasn't going to reveal my technique in front of a stranger was I?

I couldn't tell whether he actually believed me or not, he probably didn't really care that much anyway.

Kakashi went to check on Zabuza's pulse, "he really is dead" he mumbled loud enough for us to hear. He turned his head to face the boy who only bowed his head down politely.

"Thank you very much" said the boy, "I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza"

'_He's so calm and collective, does this guy have any emotions?' _ I asked myself.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes "That mask… if I remember correctly, you must be a hunter-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"You are very well informed."

Suddenly Naruto sped forward "A hunter-nin?"

"You don't know what a hunter-nin is?" Sakura asked him, "you should have learnt it in the academy." She then explained to him that they were ninjas, who assassinate exiled ninjas, like Zabuza, who for some reason goes against the village they are born in. "They do it to conceal any secret of their village…" she finished. "That's common sense! You should study more!"

"Lay off Sakura!" I snapped at her "now isn't the time for one of your lectures!"

Once again Naruto charged forward and kept looking from the hunter-nin, to Zabuza, back to the hunter-nin. Each time he was getting more and more angry.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Naruto exclaimed whilst pointing at him. I blinked a couple of times, I was not expecting that…

"Who are you?!" he repeated.

"Calm down Naruto" Kakashi told him standing up straight, "he's not our enemy…"

"That's not what I'm asking!" he shot back at our sensei. "Zabuza was killed! He was so strong, but killed so easily by a kid that's not that different from me! We… WE LOOK LIKE IDIOTS! I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS" Through Naruto's verbal rampage, Kakashi slowly made his way towards him.

"I understand how you can't believe it" Kakashi told him calmly, "but this is real." he place his hand on top of his head and ruffled his bright yellow hair. "In this world, there are kids who are younger than you… and stronger than me."

I noticed Sasuke flinch slightly, he and I knew exactly what Kakashi meant. Because we both knew someone, who was just as deadly and powerful as Kakashi when he was younger than us.

The hunter-nin jumped down from off the tree and landed besides Zabuza's body, he proceeded to pick it up over his shoulders. "Your battle ends here for now" he told us "I must go and dispose of this corpse, its body is filled with secrets." He then made a chakra hand sign "if you'll excuse me" and like a flash, a gust of wind surrounded him and he disappeared from sight.

Kakashi began to pull his headband back over his Sharigan eye, as Naruto ran to the place where Zabuza was just laying. "He's not around anymore" Kakashi told him.

Kakashi turned to the rest of us "Our mission hasn't ended yet" he informed us "We need to take Tazuna-san back to his house."

Tazuna let out a nervous laugh "sorry about that everyone, just rest at my house."

Kakashi turned towards me "Tomoko…" I perked up when I heard my name "will you be alright walking the rest of the way?"

I gave him a blank look "Sorry?"

"You hit your head and was knocked unconscious for a while… you might have a concussion" he reminded me.

"Oh!" I breathed realising what he meant. "Oh I'll be okay… just… don't let me fall asleep when we get back. And perhaps… someone for me to hold onto when walking."

Kakashi nodded at me "Sakura… help Tomoko walk okay." She nodded and walked over to me.

"Alright everyone!" Kakashi ordered "lets move out." but he only took about three steps, before freezing completely and collapsing to the ground. Immediately we all ran to his aid.

"What just happened?" Sakura asked in a panic with Naruto quickly adding in, "Kakashi-Sensei?"

I went down to his level and checked his pulse. "Someone help me push him onto his back" I ordered, I wasn't really paying attention to who help me, because once we did that I started checking over his symptoms. "He's okay" I announced "he's just used too much charka. Sasuke, Naruto carry him back if you can, Sakura you help to".

"What about you?" she asked me with some concern.

I waved her off "I'll be fine Kakashi is our top obligation now."


	16. Recovery

"The House isn't far now…" Tazuna told us. I nodded my head and glanced to the left at our unconscious Sensei, who was carried by Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura was walking besides my right as Tazuna was leading us.

Finally we could see a house up ahead. "Tsunami!" Tazuna called "it's me, open the door!"

The door opened to show a tall, slender woman who looked like she was in her early thirties, she had long jet black hair and grey eyes. "Father! You're alright!" she cried happily.

"Not now Tsunami, this man needs care and he needs it now" he told her pointing at Kakashi.

Tsunami gasped slightly and hurried us all in the house, immediately we laid Kakashi down and let her treat his injuries. "He should be fine now" she told us, but then turned to me "Your friends tell me you've hit your head?"

Damn them! I told them not to say anything!

"It's fine, I've just got to stay awake" I told her shortly. But Tsunami insisted that she at least take a look at it. Once she finished, she told basically everything I already knew and left me and my team alone with our Sensei.

"Tomoko…" Sakura started "are you sure you're alright?"

To be honest, no I wasn't alright. I was practically seeing double, my head was throbbing and my arms felt heavy. "Stop asking questions you already know answers to Sakura" I told her crossly "I'm fine these side effects were bound to happen."

"Side effects? To what?"

"Wind reading, also known by its olden name: 'pípe bócrædung.' Its an ancient tracking technique, that has been passed through my people for generations. We start training at an early ageand it takes years to perfect it, but during the course of training… there are some side effects and since I'm still quite new to it, so it still affects me in a bad way" I explained.

"I'm so confused!" Naruto butted in "what is wind reading!?"

"It's basically a ninja, who is listens and feels the vibrations carried out in the breeze" answered Sakura, "so say there is an approaching enemy, vibrations of their movement gets picked up and carried."

"Oh wow!" Naruto gushed "I want to learn to do that…"

"You can't" I cut in, which made Naruto furious, demanding why not. Sighing I replied "you have to be taught at an early age, whilst your senses are fresh and keen, starting at the age you are now is impossible."

I took in a breath "it's like learning to walk, to talk, stuff like that. So for us, for me, it was just a nessacercay skill to learn whilst growing up."

"Oh…" Moaned Naruto, "Well in any case Tomoko-Chan I think that's awesome! What age did you start learning?"

Now that I thought about it… when did I start learning? Haruo told me he started when he was about three years old. I always assumed that I started at that age to. No matter how hard I tried, all I could remember was gold fields, bits and bobs of my family and… the attack…

Why can't I remember!? Wasn't earlier today that I remembered seeing Gauto all those years ago… yet I can't remember the rest.

"Tomoko-Chan?"

Naruto's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I... I don't remember…"

"You don't remember?" Sakura repeated "how could you not remember?"

I remained silent for a while, cradling my head.

"I... don't know, I can't exactly think straight at the moment!" I snapped, getting very frustrated.

Sakura shut up after that, not wanting anymore questioning, I stood up and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Naruto called after me.

I didn't return back around to say "for some air." I continued forward and gently shut the door, and eventually, exciting the house.

After a short walk, I reached a pier and sat on the end of it, looking out to the lake. It was hard to believe that this calm, moonlit water belonged to a village that was so corrupted. My Vambraces caught my eye, Due to my arms still hurting, I decided now was the time to take them off. Slowly I undid each of the leather straps, and pulled them away from my skin. I felt a stinging sensation, as if I had just ripped off a scab from a still fresh wound. Once removed, I couldn't help but stare in shock.

From my hands to my elbows were very small but deep puncture marks, they were as small as prick wound from a sewing needle. Each laceration was positioned where the metal made contact with my flesh. But this is what disturbed me the most, around these tiny holes was stains of dried blood. I wasn't even aware that my arms were bleeding?!

Looking at my crimson hands and then scanning the area, I made sure no one else was around. Thinking on my feet, I quickly dipped both arms in the lake to clean the blood off, a faint trail of red could be seen within the water, ruining its blue beauty.

Once finished, I lifted my arms from the water, quickly grabbed one of the vambraces and inspected it, trying to find some clue about why my arms are so cut up the way they are.

"What the hell are those things?"

I looked behind my back, to see Sasuke staring at me with a puzzled glare. How was I suppose to answer that? Hell I was just as confused as he was. Maybe, I missed something when Haruo was explaining the use of them.

"They're a vambrace" I replied simply.

_'Oh great answer there Tomoko, simply rousing!'_

"I can see that" he stated in a bored tone.

_'Oh yeah, this is Sasuke I'm talking to!'_

"Well what else do you want me to say!?" I probed, why he even cares is beyond me!

"it's obvious they're not from this region, and they were made decades ago…"

"Your point?" I asked getting annoyed, hoping he'd get the hint and bugger off.

"My point is, is that there is more than meets the eye with those things, and just wearing them without knowing much about them is stupid."

He should have left when he had the chance.

"Honestly! You're recklessness is starting to effect..."

"Don't you dare!" I told him venomously "Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

Sasuke immediately shut up, well at least I thought he did…

"Does Haruo and Kinosuke know about this?"

I blinked at him, why the hell is he bringing my horse into this?!

"About, what!?" I demanded.

Sasuke pointed at the Vambrace that I was holding in each hand.

I quickly recovered, by answering "of course Haruo knows! He's the one that gave me them and Kinosuke has nothing to do with this!"

Sasuke made a 'ahem' noise. "So he doesn't know, do you think it's fair on him?"

"WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE!?" I yelled reaching my last nerve, "you never have before!"

Finally Sasuke shut his mouth. Not wanting to be around him any longer, I began to walk back to the house, vambraces in hand.

* * *

_'You're wrong Tomoko'_

That was the thought that was running through my mind as I gazed out into the lake.

_'I do care for that creature. I don't want to care, but I do…'_

My first memory of Kinosuke flooded back to me, it was some thing I would never forget...

* * *

"_Tomoko-Chan!" I yelled, she had run off somewhere and we were supposed to play hide and seek today! _

_"Where did she go…" I mumbled and scanned the area._

_Just then, my eyes landed on my Nii-san walking out of our house. "Nii-san!" I called getting his attention, "have you seen Tomoko-chan?"_

"_Tomoko?" he repeated, "as far as I'm aware she's gone to the stables…"_

"_The stables? What stables?"_

"_Sasuke how could you not know of the village's stables?" Itachi asked sternly._

_I ran over to him hoping to ask him to take me there, but as usual he was ten steps ahead and poked my forehead. "I know what you're going to ask, and I can't. Forgive me Sasuke… next time, okay?" and with that he walked out of the compound._

_I couldn't help but frown, but that frown soon turn on itsel,f as I watched Haruo enter the compound, as Itachi left._

"_Haruo!" _

_The older Mori turned to look at me. "Oh hello Sasuke!" he greeted "how are you?"_

"_I'm fine, where's Tomoko?" _

"_Oh, she isn't here?"_

_I shook my head, which made him put his hand to his chin and pulled a thinking expression, then as if a light bulb clicked in his head, he chirped "wait I know where she is!"_

_I grinned "you do?"_

_Haruo nodded, and told me that he'd take me to her once he'd dropped his school stuff in his bedroom. Once that was done, we both began walking through the village._

_ "Haruo where exactly is the ranch? We've been walking for ages!" I moaned. We probably hadn't been walking for that long, I was just inpatient._

_Haruo glanced at me as we walked, "it's just on the outskirts of the village, near the training grounds, come on we're almost there."_

_"You said five minutes ago" I stated in a huff._

_Haruo laughed "and patience, isn't your strong suit Sasuke-chan." _

_ True enough to his word, after about ten minutes, we finally reached our destination. To be honest, I'm really shocked that I didn't know about this place, I must have walked around the training grounds a million times. Yet here this ranch was, right in plain sight._

_The stables looked small, but comfortable, with its large fields and wooden hut. On the porch the hut was an elderly woman sat on a stool weaving a basket. She was wearing a lime green kimono and her grey hair was tied in a bun. _

_"Ah Haruo-kun" the woman mused "you must be looking for Tomoko-chan?"_

"_Yes" replied Haruo, nervously scratching the back of his head. "She hasn't been bothering you has she Yuuki-sempai?"_

_Yuuki shook her head and laughed, "no of course not, she should be in the field somewhere."_

_Haruo said thank you, before walking towards the wooden gate. Quickly I shadowed his footsteps "so how come Tomoko-chan is here?" I asked him._

"_She's likes to pay Kinosuke a visit from time to time" Haruo replied simply._

"_Who's Kinosuke?"_

_But that question was answered without Haruo speaking, as Tomoko's giggles could be heard. Looking in the field I saw her riding on the back of the most beautiful white stallion that I had ever seen!_

_He had a black blaze marking, from his nostrils to his lip, and black full stockings on each of his four legs._

_"He's a Peruvian Paso" I heard Haruo tell me, "mostly a ceremonial horse."_

_"ceremonial?" I repeated, looking up at him._

_Haruo shrugged "well, what I mean is, we didn't exactly have him ploughing through a flied. And perhaps ceremonial isn't the right word, since he's seen his fair share of battles." _

"_Good boy Kinosuke" she said whilst patting him on the neck. The horse shook his mane, clearly enjoying the attention. I figured now would be the best time, to get her attention and climbed over the fence. I called her name whilst running over, making her and the horse turn to look. Once I finally reached her, she slowly got off the horse and took a couple of steps towards me._

"_here you are!" I told her, "I've looked everywhere for you"_

_Tomoko blinked "you were?"_

_"Yes" I said breathlessly "its hide and seek day! Remember?"_

_She lookes down at her feet "__Sorry Sasuke..."_

_I told not to worry about it. I could feel a hard gaze upon me, I looked up to see, to my surprise, that it was the horse!_

_ "Hey Tomoko-chan… since when did you like horses?"_

"_Huh?" was all that came out of her mouth at first, till she realised what I was talking about. "Oh right, erm… this is Kinosuke! He was my mother's horse and he helped us escape from the attack."_

_I made an 'o' with my mouth, but the horse was still staring at me. It made me a little uncomfortable… I mean seriously! What horse does that?_

_"Tomoko…" I whispered, "no offense but that horse is kinda creepy, why is he staring at me and not doing… well… horse stuff."_

"_I can hear what you are saying boy!" The horse suddenly snapped, making me nearly jump out of my skin._

"_What!? The horse?! How?!" I shook my head back an forth, trying to convince myself I wasn't going mad._

_Tomoko began to laugh nervously, "oh right… I forgot to mention, that he's actually a shinobi horse… well... Sorta."_

_"Sorta?"_

_"It kind of complicated" she admitted "but long story short he can talk."_

"_A shinobi horse?"__ I remember father telling me, that certain ninja can call upon an animal for aid via using a summoning justu. But you rarely saw the animal out about, as they have their own island that they live on._

"_Honestly" Kinosuke snorted, "you would've of thought, that people could tell the difference between an ordinary horse and a horse like me, it's insulting."_

_"Erm... Sorry" was all I said "but you're kinda the first summoning animal I've ever seen."_

_"Is that suppose to be an excuse?" He irked._

_Tomoko threw him a stern look, "don't act so proud, people here aren't used to seeing a creature like you all the time, now go graze!"_

_The horse snorted one more time, before trotting off into some other direction. "Sorry about that" Tomoko told me "he's still adjusting to living here, it's a little hard on him. Not to mention that he's becoming a grumpy old man."_

_"I am not! A grumpy old man!" He scolded, calling back us._

_Tomoko rolled her eyes "see? Completely grumpy."_

"If he's so miserable, t_hen why doesn't he go home?" I asked her._

_Tomoko shrugged, "I'm not sure, we've told him countless of times to do so but he refuses. I think he feels bad for what happened to mother, whatever happened to her, so he's trying to redeem himself by staying with us."_

_I took another hard look at him, I was still getting over that fact that he talked. Either way, I sort of admired him. He had many opportunities to go back to where he belongs, but feels it's his duty to protect Tomoko. I hope I could have that same honour, like my dad and brother and serve the Uchiha clan…_

* * *

To avoid more questioning about my arms, I felt it was best to just put the vambraces back on when I wasn't alone. They had long stopped bleeding and with them on, the puncture wounds were well hidden. But just as an extra precaution, I also bandaged them up. It had been three days since our encounter with Zabuza, Kakashi still hadn't woken up which left Sakura a little worried. I wasn't too surprised, as I practically grew up around the Sharingan, I knew how draining it could be. Sasuke's father and brother would come back from long missions, and would be out of it for a week.

A part of me saw Kakashi asleep as a blessing, as I could use this time to inspect the vambrace and figure how on earth my arms got into a bloody mess. Picking up the right vambrace, I studied it thoroughly, by running my fingers over every inch of the metal. Brushing my fingertips over the ancient inscriptions, they told me nothing, just verses of particular prayers said before battle and such. The metal itself was no help either, nothing to indicate how I recieved the wounds.

Why did they react so oddly when enemies were nearby?

According to my mother's letter, they were supposed to protect me, but they seem to be doing more damage. I know I shouldn't put them on again, but I feel some sort of weird connection to them.

Suddenly I heard three knocks on my door, making sure my arms were fully bandaged before hand, I called for whoever to come in. Naruto popped his head around the corner with a smile "Tomoko-chan! Good morning!"

"Good morning" I replied back "how is your hand?"

Naruto shrugged and he walked further into mine and Sakura's bedroom, yep... You heard me right, I'm sharing a room with the pink haired moron. "It's fine" he answered "still aches a bit but nothing I can't handle!"

I couldn't help but smile, Naruto was always one of those people who could brighten up my day, even though he never realised he was doing it. Naruto sat on the edge of my bed, with his hands behind his head. We made small talk for a little while, but I had to know what happened with Zabuza "Hey Naruto?"

"What?"

"What happened whilst I was knocked out?"

Naruto released his hands ans proceeded scratched his head for a moment, "well, Zabuza told us all something really disturbing. He explained that when he graduated, he was forced to kill all of his classmates to pass and he did it at the drop of an order."

"I see" I mumbled as I took it all in, what sick and twisted place forces children to do that! However, Yamakure isn't exactly a walk in the park either. Many people consider mountianeer culture strict and somewhat conventional, but that was just the way things were.

"Anything else?" I pressed.

Naruto gave a hearty chuckle "oh and me being cool and totally showing that I'm better than Sasuke!"

I couldn't help but laugh a little, but he was pretty cool coming up with that idea. I always knew Naruto had it him, at least when he focused.

Suddenly Sakura came bursting in, telling us that Kakashi had finally awakened. Wasting no time, the three of us walked to his room, meeting Sasuke and Tazuna along the way.

"Tomoko-san…" spoke Tazuna "are your injuries getting any better?"

I noticed him staring at my bandaged arms, "nothing I can't handle" I reassured him. All of us walked into Kakashi's room seeing him still lying in his bed, but awake.

Sakura was the first to speak " the Sharingan is amazing, but it puts a lot of strain on the body. I'm not sure if its good or bad."

"I'm sorry" Kakashi mumbled.

This caused me to scoff slightly "why are you apologising? If it wasn't for the Sharingian, we'd all be probably be dead by now!"

"Yes" Tazuna agreed "you defeated such a strong ninja. We should be okay for a while."

"By the way" Sakura cut in "who was that boy with the mask?"

I was silent for a moment "good question…"

"He had the mask of a pursuing ninja" Kakashi answered, "he's from a special squad from the Village Hidden in the Mist's ANBU".

"A special squad?" Sakura repeated.

Kakashi continued to explain that are also known for as the 'fire extinguishing unit' and their job, is to erase all evidence of a ninja that was alive. "A ninja's body will give away secrets of ninja techniques and chakra of the village it was in or any specific medicine that was used on a body, among other things."

Okay now I was a little confused, thankfully Kakashi explaining more further by using himself as an exampl. If he were to die, the secret of the Sharingan would be examined and if worst came to worst, there would be a possibility that his Sharingan and other techniques would be stolen.

"In other words…" he went on, "pursuing ninja will kill exiled ninja who have abandoned the village, dispose of its body and stop any secrets of the village being revealed. They are specialists in the field."

Now I understood it, talking about the ANBU actually made me remember the day we escaped from the attack. Now that I think about it, there was a team of Ninjas who were stationed nearby my village and in the end actually saved us. They never stated why they were there, but we never really questioned it at the time. However, I clearly remember that they were all wearing these strange, animal-like masks, similar to the Hunter-nin who took Zabuza's body.

'_That's who they were…'_

"Who were?" Naruto asked.

It was only now I realised I said that out loud. "Well…" I began, "when I was brought to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I remember being surrounded by these masked Ninjas. Back then I never understood why they wore masks but now it makes sense, the where a Kanohagakure's ANBU squad!"

"Whoa you had an ANBU squad escort you back to the village?" Naruto gushed.

"Well…" I wasn't sure how to word this. Because other than Sasuke, no one here knows the reason I left my home country in the first place. Not that it was supposed to be kept a secret or anything, but there were better times and places to tell this story.

"It's all a bit complicated Naruto, even I'm not really sure why I was taken away from my home country" I completely lied. At first Sasuke threw me a puzzled look, that didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was the stare my sensei was giving me, like a knowing look… does he know about the attack on my village?

Maybe… maybe Haruo told him about it, as far as I'm aware they do know each other.

* * *

"_Hatake Kakashi?" Hauro repeated as he turned away from his cooking. It was the same day I found out who my Jonin Sensei was._

_I threw him a questioning glance "Yeah… do you know him?"_

_Hauro turned around to face me fully "you kidding? He's notorious! Well… among us Chunin anyway. No wonder you're so late!"_

"_So he's never on time? Great! what else can you tell me about him?" I asked._

"_Well I haven't actually struck a proper conversation with the guy, he's always reading a book. But he knows I exist, says hello to me every now and then, but he probably does that to everyone"._

"_So… you've never been on a mission with him?" I asked further._

_Hauro shook his head "nah its rare we're in the same place at the same time. I'm fascinated to see if he'll treat you the way he treated the others."_

"_wha…. What others?"_

_Hauro laughed "that my lýtling (little one)! Is something you'll see for yourself!"_

* * *

I think I finally understood what Hauro meant now.

"What's wrong Sensei?" I heard Naruto ask. I snapped out of my day-dream to see Kakashi's hand covering his face, but his visible eye could be seen peeping through his index and middle fingers staring off into the wall.

"Huh…" breathed Kakashi as he came back to reality. "Oh! its about what I was talking about before, I just remembered that pursuing ninja are supposed to eliminate the corpse on the spot."

"So?" piped in Sakura.

"What did the mask boy do to Zabuza?" he asked us. I thought long and hard about what the Hunter-nin did, I couldn't think of anything completely out of the norm. He killed his target then took the body...

"How should I know?!" Sakura fired back interrupting my thoughts "he took him away!"

"That's right…" Kakashi confirmed. "All he needed was the head to bring back as proof. Also the choice of weapon the boy used to kill Zabuza is questionable."

Everyone one was silence for a moment, "it was just a long needle" stated Sasuke, who finally spoke since entering the room.

I was now starting to piece this all together "could it be possible that we are just really unlucky at the moment?" I asked dryly.

"Yes Tomoko… it would seem we are" answered Kakashi. Both Naruto and Tazuna had no clue about what we were talking about and didn't hesitate to voice their confusion.

Kakashi took a moment before telling them "Zabuza is still alive".


	17. Kakashi's orders

"WHAT!?"

I swear my eardrum just exploded, from the sudden volume change that came from a resounding shriek by Naruto, Sakura and Tazuna.

"W-what does that mean?" Naruto demanded as he shook both his fists in frustration, I was still recovering from the alarming screaming he did that nearly rendered me deaf!

Sakura too joined in "But you confirmed he was dead yourself Kakashi!"

While Kakashi didn't deny that he did indeed confirm Zabuza deceased, he did explain that he was probably in a near-death state.

"hmmm" I hummed thinking, "I did find his choice of weapon it a little weird to finish the job, needles have a low fatality rate unless it hits a critical part of the body."

"Agreed" said Kakashi, "it's mostly used in acupuncture healings and such." he continued to explain that hunter-nins are experts in the structure of the human body, making it easy for them to put someone in a near to death state.

I shook my head. "Okay so let me get this straight, he took the body, even when it was obvious that it way heavier than him and he used a weapon, that has low fatality rate…" I paused as I analysed the information in my head. "Wait… so that means…"

"Yes, from those two points, the goal of that boy wasn't to kill Zabuza, but to help him" Kakashi concluded.

"Maybe your overthinking things" Tazuna suggested, trying to make light of everthing. But Kakashi wasn't having it, once he had that weird feeling… he knew he had to prepare for it, before it would be too late. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Naruto shaking, whether it was from anticipation or fear, I couldn't tell.

"Sensei" spoke Sakura timidly, "how are you going to prepare for this before it's too late? You can't move for a while…"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her. I swear for a smart girl, she can say the most stupid things, Kakashi seemed to think this to, since he began to chuckle.

"I'm going to make you all go through some training" he stated.

"W-wait!" she spluttered "even if we train! It's not going to be very useful!" she then went on a tirade about how Kakashi, who was the famous Sharingan user, had difficulty to deal with Zabuza.

"Oh come off it Sakura, it's not as if we have a choice!" I snapped "Zabuza could attack when we least expect it… we need to be ready!"

"Sakura" spoke Kakashi is a soothing tone, "who saved me when I was in trouble? You four are growing rapidly, especially you Naruto."

I couldn't really find myself agreeing with what my sensei was saying, well about me anyway, I was knocked out for most it. Naruto was awesome though! I was so proud of him!

"You know your stuff, Kakashi-sensei! Now things are getting interesting!" He boasted.

"No there not" came a voice from behind us. We all turned around, to see a little boy standing there with a stony expression. He looked no older than eight, and his chocolate-brown hair peaked out of his large white fishermen's hat. His clothes also looked like a fishermen's with his cream t-shirt and green dungarees. I managed to catch his eye line, his eyes were carol black, like Sasuke's only less harsh.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked obnoxiously as he pointed his finger at him.

"Naruto!" I scolded "it's rude to point!"

The boy glanced in my direction again and we made eye contact for the second time, slowly I could see a slight shade of pink colouring his pale cheeks.

"Inari!" Tazuna mused and held out his arms "Where were you?"

Inari, immediately ran into the old man's arms "I'm home Gee-Chan!"

"Inari!" his mother said with warning "say hello to them! These ninja escorted your grandpa home!" but Tazuna told her it was nothing to worry about. Inari stared at us long and hard before turning to his mother saying...

"Mom, they're all going to die. There's no way a person can win against Gatoh."

If I was standing up, I probably would have collapsed in utter disbelief. Not only because he said that we'd all die, but by the fact that this kid said it so casually! And typical Naruto… wasn't impressed.

"What did you say? You brat!"

I couldn't help but shake my head, as he started his usual Naruto speech about becoming Hokage and a hero one day, blah! blah! blah! Don't get me wrong, I admired his determination, but when he feels the need to repeat it every other day, it can get really aggravating.

"A hero?" Inari scoffed "How stupid! There's no such thing as a hero!"

Naruto got even more ticked off and even went to the length of trying to grab the kid, thankfully Sakura managed to grab him first.

Inari turned his back and started walking to the door, only to stop and look over his shoulder "If you don't want to die, you should go home" and with that left the room. I watched as he left the room, but not before he replied to his grandpa, who asked where he was going, that he was going to watch the ocean.

"Sorry" Tazuna quickly cut in. "He's a little… he's not fond of new people". Sakura finally let go of Naruto, who was grumbling under his breath.

"Hey" I called catching his attention, "I know he was a little difficult but you didn't help matters!"

"But…"

"No buts!" I interjected firmly "go and say you're sorry!"

Naruto looked at me in disbelief "what?! No! he started it!"

"And I'm finishing it! At least go and talk to him!" With a huff Naruto left the room to find Inari.

"You have quite the gift Tomoko-san" spoke Tazuna.

I blinked a couple of times "what makes you say that?"

Tazuna smiled, "I get the feeling he doesn't get put in his place that often and actually listens to it".

Now that I think about it, when ever I tell Naruto off about something or informing him about a certain subject, he never questions it… weird.

"Everyone, can you please leave the room?" Kakashi suddenly asked. "Except Tomoko, I need to discuss something privately with her."

Everyone, especially Sasuke, threw us both a questioning glance. But none the less did what he asked.

After everyone walked out the room, there was a short silence between us…

"What happened to your arms?"

"Huh?" was all I said.

"Your arms?" Kakashi repeated "what happened to them, to have you bandage them up so thoroughly."

I shifted my eye sight to the floor. Even if I tried, I couldn't lie under his stern gaze "I-I don't really know. It was only after I took my vambraces off that I noticed the wounds."

"May I see?" he asked holding out his hands "don't worry I won't tell the others."

Hesitantly, I started unwrapping my left arm slowly, there was still specks of blood on the white cloth from where the wounds were still healing. Gently, Kakashi took a hold of my elbow and wrist, and carefully examined the puncture marks dotted around my arm.

After staring at it for a while he released my arm, "you said you noticed the marks after you took off the vambrace?"

I nodded, "I didn't even feel any pain when we were battling Zabuza."

Kakashi scratched his chin "would you mind his I had a look at you're Vambrace?"

I raised my eyebrow "what? Why?"

"You may not realise it, but you've started wearing the vambrace without the full knowledge of what they actually do."

"Of course I know!" I interrupted "they're supposed to protect me… sort of… I think."

"Tomoko" he said harshly, "I don't know how and I don't know why, but these vambraces are affecting your performance. Why do you think you became unconscious so easily?"

Ok now I was really confused, what's that got to do with anything?!

"it's because somehow, you're losing blood every time you're wearing them in battle" he informed. "Now we are not exactly near any well-equipped medical facilities to treat you for any possible anaemia, so because of that reason, its best you don't use them till I can fully decide if they are safe."

"But I'm fine!" I argued, "Sensei I beg you, don't take them away from me!"

But Kakashi stood his ground. "This isn't a punishment Tomoko, I'm only doing this because I'm concerned you weren't fully ready to handle something as odd as this."

I did understand why he was doing this. However, I was still in a huff, why can't he just trust me?

"Beside" he spoke "I need you fully focused on tracking down Zabuza."

I blinked a couple of times "say what?"

"You displayed a remarkable skill in wind reading. If it wasn't for you, we'd all be victims of Zabuza's first blow. I have the Sharingan and even I couldn't sense that as quickly as you did."

"But Sensei…" I breathed becoming very annoyed, "I'm not exactly the most experienced pipe rædestre (wind (female) reader), I could easily predict the enemies completely incorrect and kill us all."

"You demonstrated that you could apply wind reading in a high pressured situation" Kakashi assured me, "I know it won't be easy, and I'm not asking you to track down every movement that Zabuza makes, it's just a precaution so we are prepared for the worse whilst I recover."

"Fine…" I grumbled "but if I die I'm haunting you!"

Kakashi laughed, he obviously didn't realise I was being deadly serious.

* * *

Kakashi was true to his word, as soon as he finished talking to me, he ordered me to bring the vambrace to him, and I haven't seen them since. To say I was in a bad mood was an understatement...

I was livid! Granted, I probably should have learnt how to use them before using them on a mission. But how could I? even Haruo didn't know what they did.

Not having them on my arm, it felt like… a huge part of me was missing. It's indescribable, I don't know why but it is. I felt a connection with the vambrace as soon as I touched them, and they fitted me so perfectly, it was as if they were made for me.

"TOMOKO!"

"Huh?"

I looked up to see Sakura stare at me quizzically, "what's with you? You've stared out into space for ages."

I didn't answer, not because I didn't like her (and oh boy I didn't like her!), It was because I wasn't really talking to anyone.

"So Kakashi took your arm things?"

Now that caught my attention "arm things?" I repeated with a glare.

Sakura placed her hand on her forehead, as if she was thinking, "er… I mean, the vambrace that's it! Why… why did he take them away from you?"

I stared at her long and hard, contemplating whether I should tell her or not.

"he thinks they're affecting my health" I replied, "and because he doesn't know what they are."

"Your health?"

"Yeah" I confirmed, "he thinks there is a lot more to them than just a piece of armour."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Ninja and samurai, have been known to wear vambraces in the past. But I have to admit, I've never seen vambraces made of metal like that".

I stared forward and laced my fingers together, much like what Sasuke does. "That's probably due to the fact that they are very, very! Old! Hell I wouldn't be surprised if they were made before the first Hokage."

Sakura blinked in shock "you... really think they could be that old?!"

This time I looked at her with a smirk, "you fire folc (folk) always forget the little details of the ninja nation's history" I told her. "The dúnsæte were here long before your people came to these lands."

"What did you call me? And dúnsæte?" Sakura snapped thinking I was insulting her.

I couldn't help but laugh, "I didn't call you anything, and dúnsæte means mountain dwellers, or mountaineers if you want to use a more modern tongue."

"Now you're just speaking in riddles!"

At that statement, I rolled my eyes. "Sakura, we were having a some-what decent conversation, so don't ruin it now."

"Tomoko-Chan! Sakura-Chan!" we heard Naruto call as he entered the room suddenly. Frightened by his sudden arrival, Sakura couldn't help but get enraged and sock him one in the face.

"NARUTO! YOU NEVER BARG INTO A LADIES ROOM LIKE THAT!"

Naruto slowly got up "ow… well, Kakashi said to meet him outside."

In a huff, Sakura stormed off with Naruto following shortly after. Slowly I made my way to the hallway and once I stepped out into the hallway, I noticed Sasuke was there, following our teammates.

Surprisingly he stopped and looked at me with a curious face.

"What!?" I snapped.

Sasuke shrugged "nothing, it's just I haven't heard you talk like that in a long time."

"What are you talking about?" I asked getting more aggravated by the second.

Sasuke scoffed "these walls are as hollow as dead wood, I heard your entire conversation."

I raised an eyebrow "so I spoke a few words my native language, big deal!"

"all I was doing, was noting that, minus the time when you were explaining it to Naruto, you hadn't spoken like that since we met, no need to get snappy" he stated coolly.

"I said two words! And besides… why would I continue to speak a language in a place where no one understands it?" I shot at him, as I went to walk away, I couldn't help but mutter "dwæse" which meant stupid.

"I heard that!" he yelled.

'_Damn! I should've never have taught him Mitsuko's language!'_

* * *

**Yep! The Mountain country as their very own language! because hey? I want my mountain people to be cool like the elves in lord of the rings… kind of… But how does Sasuke know it?**

**Anyway! Sorry for lack of updates! And sorry for the rubbish chapter**


	18. training begins

Kakashi had taken us into a forest not far from Tazuna's house, which apparently was just what we needed.

"We will now begin the training?" Kakashi announced. Maybe this training would take my mind off of my vambrace, god knows I needed to.

"ROGER!" Yelled Naruto.

Kakashi proceeded to make a hand sign with his index finger held up, "but first, let me once again talk about Chakra, the base for the ability of a ninja."

"At a time like this?" Sasuke asked in a snobbish tone, but I couldn't help but silently agree with him. We maybe Genin, but we're not morons.

"I already know about that! Chatra right?"

That statement nearly caused me to bowl under my feet, Naruto never ceases to amazing me! I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad one.

"It's Chakra!" Kakashi said sternly "Okay, Sakura-kun!"

"Listen, Naruto. I'm going to explain this in a simple manner to save time" she began and brought out a scroll with 'secret document' scribbled on it.

"Wait… how did you get your hands on that?" I quizzed. But my question was completely ignored, as she started to explain how chakra is used as energy, to utilize a technique and that basically, energy is collected from the body's energy, which is collected from every human cell, and the spiritual energy that is gained from training and experience.

"In other words, techniques come from these two energies are squeezed out of the body and moulded together, this process is known as moulding the chakra. And with this chakra one is able to execute a technique by forming a seal."

"Correct" Kakashi chirped "Iruka-sensei was blessed with a nice student, I see". This caused Sakura to gloat, and me to roll my eyes.

"What's with that?" Naruto demanded "you can just learn all that stuff with your body, even if you don't understand it".

"Exactly what Naruto said" spoke Sasuke agreeing, "We're all able to use the techniques anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure" I told him. "I mean yeah, we can do basic techniques, but the calibre of Zabuza's control of his chakra was nothing less than perfection."

"Exactly" acknowledged Kakashi, "you guys aren't able to use your chakra completely."

"WHAT?" shouted Naruto, sounding completely disgusted.

"Just listen…" Kakashi beckoned. "Like Sakura said, moulding chakra means to extract energies from both the body and the spirit. Mixing them up in your body and the amount of each energy will differ from the type of technique you wish to execute. So in other words, the mixing will be different."

"So… you're saying that we can't use our chakra right?" I questioned.

"Yes" he answered, "even if you can mould a large amount of chakra, if you cannot control the balance, your technique will only be as half as effective or not executed at all. Wasting energy will create a weakness of not being able to fight for a long time."

I could see Kakashi staring right at me as he said that statement, if I could maybe perfect my chakra control, then I might get a chance to earn my vambrace back!

"So… what should I do?" Naruto asked and nervously scratched his head.

"You're going to learn how to control it with your body" Kakashi stated sternly, "you must go through rigorous training."

Everyone's expression turned serious, as Sakura asked what it was we would be doing.

"Hm…" Kakashi started "climb a tree."

I blinked, "Climb a tree!?" we all blurted at the same time.

"That's right" Kakashi mused "But it's not ordinary tree climbing."

I sighed heavily "why has there always got to be a catch? There's always a catch!"

Kakashi brought his hands up in front of him, "you have to do it without your hands".

Now that I think about it, I do recall Haruo asking Sasuke's father's advice on chakra control, he too said to practice climbing trees. I never thought anything of it at the time, but now it made sense.

"How to we do that?" Sakura mumbled.

"Just watch" was all our Sensei said. He put both his hands together in a hand sign, after that, he slowly hobbled his way towards a nearby tree. Without any effort, began to walk up it as if he was taking a stroll down the street.

To say I was stunned was an understatement, and from the flabbergasted looks on my team mates faces, they were thinking the same thing. Kakashi had now made it onto a branch and hung upside down as if he were a bat.

"That's how you do it" he simply told us, "gather your chakra to the bottom of your feet, and make it attach to the tree trunk, something like this is possible if you can use your chakra."

"Wait!" Sakura cut in angrily "how can we become strong by doing that?"

I scoffed "for a smart person you say the dumbest things."

"WHAT!? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?"

"Girls!" Kakashi yelled. "Pay attention and I'll tell you. The main purpose of this training, is to accumulate the right amount of moulded chakra in the right location. This is difficult even for a well-trained ninja." He then continued to explain that the amount of chakra used in this tree climbing exercise is subtle, however the most difficult place to concentrate chakra is beneath your feet.

"So in other words, if you are able to master this, you can learn any kind of technique, In theory that is" he concluded.

"So there's a second purpose?" I asked.

"Yes, the second purpose is to maintain that moulded chakra. Most of the time, ninja mould their chakra during battle. In that situation, it is even more difficult to support that chakra. You however Tomoko, have probably already had some form of chakra training through your wind reading."

I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. It may not look like it, but it takes a lot of chakra and experience to predict a perfect vibration in the wind. Because you have focus all your chakra in one place, the ears, which from my experience, is very hard to do.

In Yamakure, it was common that villagers had to learn wind reading at a young age. Because if any danger or anything out of the norm were to approach the boarders, someone would pick up on it. Hence why the country is ridiculously hard to invade, and trust me when I tell you. People have tried, only to be shot down as soon as they stepped on our soil.

But our methods has also given the country a bad name. It's become an isolated place, nobody goes in… and nobody goes out without someone knowing about it. Which is why everyone is always so surprised when I tell them that I am from Yamakure, because no one has been known to cross the boarders, without the council at least hearing about it and trying to claim us back… or even have us killed.

It sounds harsh I know, but you find that policy in most major military countries, I wouldn't be surprised if Konohagakure did the same.

"I need you all to learn this with your bodies" he explained and threw four kunai knives, stabbing them the ground, one in front of each of us. "Use that knife, to mark where you are able to climb up to with your current ability. Then try to make a mark above the first one. You guys aren't experienced enough to walk up the tree, so run to give yourself a boost, got it?"

I bent down to pick up my knife and stared at it for a moment, then at the nearest tree. This seemed so easy, but like I said before, there's always a catch.

"This training is too easy for me!" Naruto gloated, doing some cheesy ninja pose "since I'm the guy who is growing the most right now!"

"Okay, be quiet" Kakashi told him "try to climb any of the trees." Everyone immediately made a hand sign and closed their eyes, it was interesting to see them all so focused.

'_Okay' _I told myself as I closed my eyes, _'I need to focus all my chakra on the bottom of my feet.'_ I slowly proceeded to put my hands together in a hand sign and concentrated on the task at hand. Slowly but surely, I could feel my energy mould together in my core, and make its way down to my feet. A sensation was felt on my feet, as if as was being slightly lifted off the ground. I heard Naruto yell something, but I wasn't really paying attention to the things that were going on around me.

Slowly I opened my eyes to see Naruto had attempted the climb, and failed at the first step. Sasuke got about half way up and managed to put his first scratch in the tree, however he also crushed a dent in it with his foot.

'_So that's how it works, if you put too much chakra into it, it repels you. Too little, and the absorption will not be generated and you crash and burn.'_

"This is easier than I thought!"

I glanced upwards, having to do a double take.

_'No freaking way!'_

Up in a tree was Sakura, sitting on a branch with her kunai stabbed into the top of the tree. So… Sakura isn't as useless as I thought, the girl actually has some decent chakra control.

But I couldn't think about that now. Once again I focused all my chakra onto my feet, even with all the eyes now staring at me. Straight away, I ran full force towards the tree. Along the way, I made myself believe that it was just like a pathway, only you're running a very fast, heavy footed race.

As I took my first step onto the tree, the unexplainable thrill wash upon me, as I vertically ran up the hard trunk. My hair swung loosely behind me and my feet felt heavy with each stride I took.

'_Almost there!' _I told myself seeing the highest branch, I could feel myself getting tired. But then without warning, I could feel a weird stinging sensation in my arms, the vambraces were reacting. Images of the attack, my mother and death, coruscated through my mind, along with flashes of this bright, green energy.

"TOMOKO WATCH YOUR FOOTING!" Kakashi yelled in a panic.

His sudden shriek surprised me and I lost the grip of my footing for a brief second. Thankfully, I was close enough to the top branch, to grab a hold of it and to stab the tree with my knife to break my fall.

"Tomoko-Chan are you okay?!" Naruto yelled up to me. Slightly out of breath, I digested what just happened. Kakashi looked like he nearly suffered from a heart attack and Sakura had a very annoyed look on her face. I couldn't see Sasuke, since he was directly behind me, but I could feel the daggers he was staring into my back.

As soon as I got my breath back, I climbed onto the branch and slumped onto it, I stared at my hands, which were shaking out of my control.

_'What the hell just happened?'_

"Oh?" Kakashi spoke up " It looks like the girls are best at controlling their chakra."

Sakura once again stuck her tongue out in a gloating manner, I was still getting over the fact that I nearly killed myself, and what I just saw.

"Wow Sakura-Chan! That's something I expected from a girl I have high hopes for!" Naruto chimed.

"Hey!" I called finally finding my voice "I did it to you know!"

"Yeah but I knew you'd have no problem with it Tomoko" he answered back.

I finally got a look at Sasuke, who looked infuriated that both me and Sakura were better than him, now that felt good.

"Sakura, your knowledge of chakra was splendid, but your control and stamina are good as well" Kahashi complimented. "And Tomoko already had a head start on chakra control, so if anything she more advanced than both Naruto and Sasuke!"

"I wouldn't go that far" I mumbled.

"Who knows? Maybe two particular ninjas, and not someone else, is closest to becoming Hokage right now? The Uchiha clan isn't as great as I thought, either."

I couldn't help but laugh at the Uchiha part, because the look on Sasuke's face was priceless!

"SHUT UP SENSEI!" Sakura screeched, in fears her precious Sasuke might hate her "And Tomoko stop laughing!"

I was now practically in a fit now my sides were hurting, I haven't laughed like this in a while… it felt good. The looks Naruto and Sasuke where so tense, you could cut it with a knife.

"Alright! I'm going to catch up to Sasuke first!" he claimed "I'm going to do this!" Sasuke emotionlessly stared at him then looked up to me… as if to say, 'I'll beat you as if it's the last thing I do'.

To avoid his gaze, I jumped down from the tree and swiftly landed back on the ground. Walking back to where I was before, I decided to try one more time, but just as I was prepared to go… a hand stopped me…

"You don't need to participate in this training anymore" Kakashi told me quietly, how did he get down so fast?

I looked up at him with a very confused glanced, "but! Sakura is doing it again!"

"Sakura maybe able to do it, but she has nowhere near the chakra level you and the boys have…" he whispered. "You and I both know, how advanced you actually are in your chakra control. But let's keep that between you and me."

I bet you are confused. Well the truth is as I stated before, wind reading is also a form of Chakra control and I started at the age of four, a couple of months before the attack I think. So I guess you could say, like Kakashi said, I've already had a head start from everyone else.

"Then why did you need me to do the training" I asked annoyed in a whisper.

"Because I needed to see how you would be without your vambrace," Kakashi stated "now I have idea on what they might be…"

"What they might be?" I repeated.

"Yes Tomoko, but not here." He took his hand off my shoulder "Now" he began more louder "I suggest you rest, because you need to be a 100% for scouting."

Right, I forgot about that. Slowly I went to sit down against one of the tree trucks and sighed. Even though I was grateful for the little break, I wasn't looking forward to the aftermath. Pípe bócrædung (wind reading) takes years and years of practice to perfect, I've only been doing it for eleven years. Now I know that's a big number, but you have to be practicing it for at least twenty-five years.

Kakashi is so trusting in my abilities, it makes me nervous.

Exhaustion finally began to kick in, and I slowly began to doze off…


	19. Kakashi's research and shopping in town

"_Come on Haruo, you need to practice you're shuriken throwing"._

_My brother groaned loudly, as our mother called from our small hut of a house. It wasn't glorious, but liveable with a stove, sitting area and two bedrooms. But back to the situation at hand, Haruo just spent two hours honing his wind reading skills, but he had to learn how to cope with the side effects in a battle situation._

_Haruo wasn't a natural fighter, he didn't like confrontation and he certainly didn't like causing pain to others. Not that I'm saying he's weak or anything, in fact in my eyes he is the most strongest person I know. Mentally, he's brilliant but brains get you nowhere in Yamakure._

_I was happily watching him, and playing with a stuff doll mother made for me._

_My mother popped her head out of our hut, her blonde and black hair shaped her beautiful face perfectly and her vibrant green eyes sparkled "Haruo?"_

_Haruo picked up his shuriken and stared at it miserably "ácennicge (mother) I'm unless at this! So why do I even bother trying?!"_

_Mother didn't say anything, at least not a first. Because another voice was thrown into the mix, "now, now young Haruo, impatience is a device that can lead to selfishness". I turned to see two older men in very expensive looking cream robes, both were grinning in some sort of fake pleasant notion._

_It seems my mother picked up on this straight away, "I am just as loyal to our lady's guidance as you are Sadao, but I ask you not to be too harsh on my son… he's going through a lot of strain right now."_

_Sadao and the other man walked towards my brother and me, "ah mastering your pipe rædung (wind reading), well I'm sure you will get the hang of it." The other man stared at me "isn't the girl due to start her training as well?" he asked._

_My mother walked towards them with a stony expression, "she has one more month, and then she will begin her training like the others."_

"_Yes" spoke the man "but if she is what the scriptures say…"_

"_Enough!" my mother cut in harshly "scriptures or not she is my daughter, and even if she is the one you are claiming she is Yori, I will not push her into something I know she isn't ready for!"_

"_What are you talking about ácennicge?" Haruo asked running over to her._

_Mother looked down and smiled "nothing important love, the councilmen are just enquiring when your sister comes of age."_

"_For wind reading?"_

"_yes my son."_

_Whilst they were having their conversation, my attention turned to the shuriken that my brother had dropped on floor. Slowly I picked it up and examined it with a smile "Pretty…" _

_I then noticed a practice log with a target on it, it just next to where my mother, brother and council members were having a discussion. Standing up, boredom and curiosity of my capacity got the better of me. With as much force as I could muster, and threw the shuriken at my target, where I made I perfect hit in the middle of the bullseye._

_My family and the council members stared at me, stunned at what they just saw._

_ "Momma look! I did it I did it!" I cheered._

_The expression my mother's face was a strained one, but she managed to pull out a smile "so I can see…"_

"A_nd without any sort of combat training" Yori stated with a strange smile. At this my mother turned to them abruptly. "You leave her alone!" She said warningly "Once she comes of age you can begin your tests! As for now! I want you off my land!"_

"_Yori, we seemed to have over stepped our boundaries" said Sadao, "we will leave you in peace Fumiko" and with that they left._

"_Tomoko come here" my mother called. Slowly I made my way over to her and she kneeled down to my level. "Until your birthday, I don't want you do handle any more weapons… do you understand?"_

"_Oh… okay momma" I replied sadly, thinking I was in trouble._

_My mother seemed to pick up on this and smiled "this isn't a discipline young one" she explained, "but try to understand that the council is watching you very closely."_

"_watching me? Why?"_

"_I can't tell you, not yet."_

"_WHY NOT?!"_

"_TOMOKO!"_

_"Sorry... I'll stop."_

_"TOMOKO!?"_

"_STOP YELLING AT ME!"_

"_TOMOKO WAKE UP!"_

* * *

Slowly I opened my eyes, to see Sakura looking down at me with a somewhat, concerned look on her face.

Blinking a couple of times, I slowly sat up from my bed and proceeded to rub my eyes.

"What time is it?"

"About six in the morning" she answered. "Come on, we have to go with Tazuna-san to the bridge remember?"

Before answering, I let out a very loud yawn "yeah I remember, let me just get ready" I stated and slowly got out of bed. Sakura watched me carefully, as I proceeded to put my waist coat on over my shoulders, pull on my cut off pants and gradually secure my Ninja gear. It had been three days since our training session with Kakashi, and since me and Sakura both passed, we were on protective duty.

"You… didn't sleep so well last night did you?" she suddenly asked.

"What makes you say that?" I asked casually, and I continued getting ready, tying a knot in my waist coat like I usually do. I respectively grabbed my Ninja headband and tied it around my hips.

"Well…" she began "you sorta talk in your sleep and thrash a bit as if you're having a nightmare."

Finally I turned to face her and cradled my face with one hand, trying to think of a way to explain this.

"Do you remember me telling you about the side effects of wind reading?"

She nodded "yeah you said that they made you dizzy".

"Well that's only a minor one. Other effects cause somewhat excessive dreaming, and it's something to do with over working the brain." I paused for a second, "it's different for everybody, my brother, for example, when he started the training, he would actually sleep walk and…"

"What? what happened to him?" Sakura pressed.

I let out a breath "He had a seizure." I stared at Sakura's stunned expression "It wasn't as bad as it could've been, but it did shake him up a lot."

"How old was he?" she asked.

"six."

"SIX!?"

I couldn't help raise an eyebrow "I told you, training starts at four years of age when the minds fresh."

"Yes but… to put a child through all that…"

I shook my head in disbelief, "what is your point? That it's barbaric? Cruel? The methods may seem that way, but that's just how things are! All countries are run differently, if you and the others keep up this naïve belief that everything is all perfect like Konohagakure, then you need to wake up!"

Sakura was rendered speechless, which made me think on my words. "Sorry…" I mumbled shaking my head slightly.

"It's okay…" she answered softly "the side effects, I understand."

We didn't really say anything after that. We left the room and headed to the front door, "Sensei we're going!" I called.

And with that we left.

* * *

Kakashi heard the door close as both girls left the house. With the boys still training as well, he figured now would be a good time to examine what he confiscated from Tomoko. With his arms crossed, he stared at the vambraces, which were placed in front of him on the floor, long and hard. Eventually, he carefully picked one up and traced the engraved writings with his middle and index fingers.

It was a language he had never seen before, sure he knew some heáhbeorg ágenspræc (mountain language), but the words written on these were much older.

A knock came at the door. "Kakashi-san?" Tsunami called as she opened it, "I managed to get to get the book you requested" she told him as she walked further in the room. "It was quite difficult to look for, even the librarian wasn't sure about whether they had it due to library being so under budget."

"I'm sorry for the trouble" Kakashi said bashfully, which made Tsunami laugh and wave her hand. "Nonsense, it gave me something to do other than clean the house" she then behind to fish through her bag "here you go."

Kakashi gingerly took the old, tattered book from her hands and nodded a thank you as she left the room, to which he was thankful for. He gently placed the vambrace back on the floor and immediately started flicking through the pages, slowly and softly. One chapter in particular caught his eye.

"Yamakure folc reccung (folk stories)" he read aloud. _"The Creation of the two forces, began in a veil of light. Nothing changed and everything remained static. Then out of nowhere, darkness poisoned the purity, causing everything to unbalance and descend into blackness. Thus began the dimension of Oblivion, and the molding of both chaos and order."_ He skipped a page.

**"_L__ife was created, water flowed endlessly, plants grew increasingly and creatures involved rapidly. But most importantly, was the birth of the gods of the Oblivion Nexus, Mistuko of Order and Yaso of Chaos"._** Kakashi stopped reading for a second, he already knew the basics of this story. Both Mistuko and Yaso engaged in a fierce battle, one were no one was the victor, or the loser. So it was decided that they would co-exist and create a balanced world.

Why he thought something would trigger anything related to Tomoko's vambrace, was beyond him! He skipped a couple of more pages.

"Prophecy of Mistuko's Champion?"

It was a picture of an old scripture, the writing was something he couldn't read well. "Wait a minute…" he quickly picked up the vambrace, and inspected the writings again. It was the exact same language on the engraved metal! This couldn't be pure coincidence. His eyes darted back to the picture, below it was a translation.

**"_At a time of darkness, Mistuko will bless her one loyal follower with a child. one who embodies the will, leadership and power of the Lady of Order. Chosen as Mistuko's champion, they shall aid the one who will restore order to the earth and bring peace forever."_**

Kakashi put the vambrace back down, and rubbed his chin in though. "Embodies the will, leadership and power? But how?" Kakashi skipped back to the creation story. Clearing his throat he read out loud…

**"_Although a truce was agreed between both forces, this peace did not last long. As Yaso's obsessive nature for power, could not be contained. Yaso began to beckon people to his will, to worship and follow him. These disciples would go on to do monstrous acts against human kind."_**

Kakashi paused and held his temple, he forgot just how complex Yamakure religion was. The men that the book talks about were child killers, occult believers and warmongers. Any crime that you could think of, they committed.

**"_Mistuko, was so greatly saddened at Yaso's corruption of man, her tears thundered down on the earth. Thus creating a worldwide flood, to wash away all the corruption. Until she witnessed a young girl, who pleaded to her, to forgive man's selfishness and to give them a second chance. Mistuko once again saw purity within mankind and blessed the child, as her first loyal follower and keeper of the weapons of Order."_**

Kakashi looked up from the book, "weapons of Order? Mistuko had weapons?" Kakashi flipped to another chapter titled 'Yamakure military power'. Once again, the chapter told pretty much what he already knew, Yamakure shinobi are masters of molding chakra as they begin training at early age, he learnt that much just from watching Tomoko. However one paragraph caught his attention…

**"_Yamakure Shinobi weld their weapons from an unknown formula, this formula is said to help with the molding of the chakra into one place."_**

'_Now that's interesting' _thought Kakashi as he read it for a second time. Unfortunately, the book didn't say how it all actually works.

"I wonder…"

Kakashi picked one of the vambraces for a third time. Once again, taking in the detail. It was only now he noticed, that the actual metal it was made of, wasn't one he was familiar with. Taking the plunge, he placed the book on the floor, he formed a seal with his now, free hand, and focused all his chakra there.

At first, he could feel a slight burning sensation, nothing to fret about. So he decided to focus even more chakra. Abruptly, flashes of green blocked his vision, high-pitched screaming deafened his eardrums and his hand singed under the hot contact of the now red hot metal. Crying out in pain Kakashi dropped the vambrace and cradled his hand.

"Kakashi-san?!" Tsunami called frantically as she rushed in the room "are you alright?"

Shaking, Kakashi began inspecting the damage of his hand, only to find no damage at all. His hands were still perfectly smooth and pale.

"Did you hear the screaming?" he asked.

"Screaming? You mean apart from you?"

Kakashi nodded.

"No I didn't hear anything of the sort" Tsunami answered simply.

Kakashi blinked a couple of times and stared at the vambrace he dropped, it too was perfectly normal. Did that all just happen in his head? What caused that reaction?

He now knew, the only way to fully understand what these vambraces were, was to have Tomoko use them somehow.

* * *

Nothing…

Absolutely nothing but the sound of ocean currents, building work and small chatter filled my highly adjusted ears.

A yawn echoed behind me, its soft tone indicating it to being Sakura… typical.

"You look bored all by yourself" Spoke Tazuna as his footsteps slowly made contact with the concrete.

1… 2… 1… 2…

the way his shirt ruffled against his skin, told me he was carrying something… something heavy.

"Where's that blonde kid and arrogant guy?" he asked her.

"They're training with a tree climbing exercise" she answered.

"And what about you?"

Sakura let out a cocky 'ahem' sound. "I'm smart, so Kakashi-sensei told me to guard you." If my eyes were open, I would have rolled them over, of course she forgets to mention that I'm here as well.

Tazuna ceased walking to stare at her… and without missing a beat asked "Really?"

I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath at Sakura's reaction, the sound of her gritting teeth vibrated my eardrums.

"I'm not being funny here, but why can't you and Tomoko take this… reading thing in turns?" he asked her simply.

"I don't know how to wind read" she replied, "Kakashi-sensei ordered her to listen out for any kind of enemy, at least until he is a hundred per cent again, it's just a precaution."

"Well it's not fair if you ask me" stated the old man stubbornly. "We probably wouldn't have made it back to the house if she wasn't here, and she's still not given a break!". He continued his work, perfectly, I could Sakura grumbling under her breath.

"Stupid Tomoko! Always here to save the day! Pssf!"

"I can hear what you're saying you know" I firmly told her, which in turn caused her to squeak in surprise.

"May I have a word with you, Tazuna?" called a voice as he walked over to the bridge builder.

"Eh?" Tazuna stopped what he was doing "what is it, Giichi?"

The man named Giichi hesitated, his words came out slow "Well, after thinking about it" Pause... "Can I quit this bridge building?"

"W-WHY ALL OF A SUDDEN!?" Tazuna spluttered loudly "NOT YOU TO!"

"Tazuna" spoke Giichi sternly, "I've known you for a long time. I want to help, but if I get too involved, Gatoh will come after me, to."

Tazuna grumbled under his breath, clearly he wasn't pleased with this man's sudden departure. Giichi tried to persuade his friend to stop building the bridge, but the old man was stubborn, clearly stating that the bridge belonged to them, and that the town's people have worked on this bridge in hopes for a better life.

"But if we die…" stuttered Giichi.

However Tazuna cut him off "You see that girl over there?" I'm assuming he was referring to me, "her and her teammates risked their lives to get me here, so I'm not backing out now and wasting their time!"

"But Tazuna!"

I could sense things getting a little heated, and since Sakura was just sitting there, I had no choice but to step in. "Tazuna-san" I spoke whilst opening my eyes and standing up. Immediately both men stopped bickering as I turned around to face them. "You've worked hard, perhaps it's time we stopped for lunch?"

Tazuna was silent for a second, but nodded in agreement. As he started walking… his friend called out to him.

"Giichi" he called back "you don't have to come anymore" and with that he walked off. Slowly I made my way over to where Sakura was sitting.

"Not to sound demanding or anything…" I said in a frustrated tone, "but can you at least try to keep the peace?!"

"What was I supposed to say?!" Sakura retorted.

"Look!" I spoke harshly "focusing on what I'm doing is hard enough, but with a bunch of old geezers quibbling doesn't exactly help, so can you at least attempt to work with me here!"

"Fine!" replied Sakura snobbishly, which caused a vein to pop out of my head.

'_Mistuko give me the strength not to kill her!'_

* * *

Later on… when the day was over, the three of us began to make our way back to the house, only this time round we were going a different route.

"Hey, where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"I've been asked to buy the ingredients for tonight's dinner" Tazuna replied and stopped in front of a tattered old building. "This is it" and with that he walked in.

"You go in, I'll watch the door" I told her. As Sakura disappeared inside, I finally had the chance to soak in everything around me. This town was in complete dismal. Young children were picking pockets for change and snatching bread from stands. Elderly men, were walking around with signs, pleading for employment. The shops weren't much to look at either, most building looked ready to collapse. I felt and heard movement beside me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" I spoke calmly as I looked down to the side. I saw a little girl shiver in fear next to me, her hand held in the air near my weapons pouch.

"I-I... please don't punish me!" she cried.

Watching her tense up in fright broke my heart. "Hey" I spoke softly kneeling down to her level, "who said anything about punishing you?"

She slowly opened her eyes and gave me a puzzled look "you're… not going to hurt me?"

"No" I replied. "Here, it's not much, but it'll buy you some rice for at least three days" I said giving her some spare change.

"Wha… really?!" she breathed happily.

I smiled at her "really… now go on clear off. And don't let me catch you doing this again!"

"Yes! Thank you onee-san" she cheered and ran off.

"What a cute kid…"

**"AHHH YOU PERVERT!"**

The sudden crashing noise and scream spooked me, it sounded a lot like Sakura. Rushing into the store, surprisingly, I saw a man completely floored with his nose bleeding and Sakura standing above him.

"What happened?" I asked, still stunned.

"This guy tried to grope me!" she screeched. I looked down at the injured man, who mumbled something about how he wasn't.

"Well it serves you right" I told him "whatever it was you were trying to do…"

'_perhaps I shouldn't underestimate Sakura'. _


	20. A country that had a hero

We finally made it back to the house after our short shopping trip, and immediately sat down for dinner. The meal didn't take long to prepare as we had limited supplies, but I didn't mind too much, I was use to having limited rations. The sitting arrangement was Tazuna at the head of the table, next him on the right was his grandson Inari, on the left was Kakashi who was next to Naruto. I was the middle of Inari and Sasuke, and Sakura was at the other head of the table.

"This is really fun!" Tazuna gushed, "Its been a while since I ate with this many people." I'm surprised he still had an appetite, considering both Naruto and Sasuke were eating like pigs having their last meal.

No really… food was flying everywhere, the sound coming from their mouths made me want to gag and watching them was exhausting, not that I wasn't already.

The both of them stood up suddenly, both yelling "seconds please!", then glaring at each other before barfing everything on to the floor.

_'lovely...'_

Thankfully, Sasuke had the decency to puke on the corner of the table, only problem was it now was near Sakura. "If you're going to barf, DON'T EAT!" she screeched standing up. I played with my food, shifting it from side to side with my chopsticks "seriously guys, you're ruining my appetite." But our complaints fell on deaf ears. "No, I'll eat" spluttered Sasuke as he wiped his chin, followed closely by Naruto saying "I have to eat even if I have to force myself… I have to become strong quickly!"

Kakashi nodded in agreement, although he did add that being sick isn't good either.

Once again they took no notice and stared at my bowl like a pack of wolves.

I rolled my eyes "you two are disgusting" I groaned, I threw down my chopsticks and shoved my bowl to Naruto "here, lets not waste it."

"Ah thanks Tomoko-chan!" he cheered and grabbed the bowl faster than you could say ninja.

Sasuke glared at me "what if I wanted to eat that!?"

"Oh shut up! All of you!" I snapped, finally getting fed up…

Wow… I really need some sleep. For the rest of the meal, I was sort of in a daze, not really paying attention to what was happening. My vambraces came back into my head, how was it possible? To miss a object, to the point of were you feel like a massive part of you, was ripped from your hands and completely out of reach.

I admit, it wasn't just the exhaustion that was effecting me. It was also not knowing when I would get back what was rightfully mine. The vambrace was passed from my mother to my brother, who in turn passed it to me. It was frustrating, and I know deep down that it won't be long until I snap.

* * *

After everyone had finished, we all remained in the dining room to stay social. Myself, the boys, Kakashi, Inari and Tazuna remained at the table. Whilst Tsunami cleaned the dishes and Sakura was admiring photograph on the wall. At this point, I was completely shutting down, with my arms folded on the table and hiding my face in them.

"Um, why are you hanging a torn picture?" Sakura asked, I pulled my head up to see she was now turning slightly to face us. "Inari-kun was watching this during dinner the entire time."

I glance sideward at the small boy, who said nothing.

Sakura continued saying, that the torn part looked like someone had intentionally tore away the person who was there. Immediately the family tensed up and it was silent for a while… until Tsunami spoke up…

"It's my husband."

Now this caught my attention, slowly I sat up and listened to Tazuna.

"He was the man known as the hero of this town" he said softly. Straight away Inari stood up from his seat and walked out, not saying a single word.

After calling for him, Tsunami followed after him. "Father!" she scold "I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" and with that she left the room. Silence once again followed… well this was awkward.

"What's wrong with Inari-kun?" Sakura hesitantly asked.

Kakashi stared long and hard at the bridge builder "It seems there's a reason behind this."

Tazuna took a breath "Inari had a father that wasn't related to him" he explained, "they were very close, like father and son."

He then smiled slightly "Inari used to laugh a lot back then." However the smile soon faded, as the old man tried his hardest to hold back the sobs. "But… Inari changed… after the incident that happened to his father. The word 'courage' was forever taken away from the people on this island and Inari… After that day… and that incident."

Clearly confused, Kakashi asked for the old man to go into more detail about what exactly happened.

Tazuna managed to calm himself down and wipe the tears away "To explain the incident, I will need to talk about the man who was known as a hero on this island."

"A hero?" Naruto repeated.

Tazuna nodded "It was about three years ago when the man and Inari met each other…" he then proceeded to tell a story, where Inari was being bullied by three other boys by taking his dog. One of the kids decided to throw the dog into the sea and force Inari to jump in after it. Inari, was too afraid due to not being able to swim, and therefore hesitated. The boys then pushed him in anyway, leaving the him in a panic.

"This isn't very important" Tazuna added "but Pochi (the dog) learned how to dog paddle then".

I could tell from the expression on everyone's faces, that they weren't particularly sure where the old man was going with this. Me? I won't deny it, I expected it to be… well… less boring.

Tazuna told us that the dog and boys left Inari to drown. But luckily, the man in the picture managed to save him. It was then the man taught the boy about courage and strength, I think it went along the lines of, whatever is important to you, you must protect it with both arms, no matter how hard or sad it is, even if you lose your life.

A little corny I know, but I imagine Inari was only about four years old at the time, so in his eyes, it was probably the most awesome thing he could ever hear.

"His name was Kaiza" confirm Tazuna. "He was a fisherman who came to this island seeking his dream. Ever since that moment, Inari started becoming attached to him, which was probably due the fact he lost his father before he could remember anything. He followed him around all the time like a goldfish's feces… and they became like father and son."

Even though it was a little cheesy, I couldn't help but think how cute it was.

"He soon became a big part of our family, but Kaiza was also a guy that we needed in this town." He explained how Kaiza stopped a whole section of the village, from being flooded by diving in rapid waters to fixed the dam, this courageous act earned him the right to be called a hero, and a father that Inari could be proud of.

However, the story then took a very, very dark turn.

"Gatoh turned his eye on this town around that time, and one night…"

I froze on the spot as Tazuna told how Gatoh's men, brutally tortured Kaiza and broke both of this arms with giant hammers. And just to add salt to the wound, they not only crucified him in front of the whole town… and Inari, they beheaded him.

"Inari changed ever since that time, Tsunami and the people of this town as well" Tazuna concluded.

I couldn't help but clench my fists, "such barbarism!" I cursed under my breath. Suddenly, Naruto stood up and ran for the door, only to trip up due to exhaustion.

"What are you doing Naruto?" Sakura asked slowly.

Kakashi had already caught on to his intentions "if you're going to train, don't. You Molded too much Chakra. If you move any more, you're going to die".

"I'm going to prove to them!" announced Naruto as he pushed himself up "that there are heroes in this world."

Now grinning, I admired his determination.

"I'm going to prove it to him!" and with that he ran back outside. Kakashi tried to stop him, but it was no use, he was long gone.

"Well…" I spoke slowly standing up "I best get back to work." But as soon as I pushed my chair under, everything around began spinning and I lost my footing.

"Tomoko!?" Kakashi called in a panic.

Thankfully, Sasuke was quick enough to catch me by the shoulders. I looked up at his to see he was nothing but a massive blur.

"I'm alright…" I lied as I cradled my head.

"Clearly" mocked Sasuke which in turn made me glare at him.

Kakashi walked to check my vitals "considering how much chakra you've used I'm surprised you're still able stand, it's rather impressive" he stated.

"um… thank you?" I asked more than replied.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I heard Sakura speak "does Tomoko really need to carry on wind reading?"

Kakashi stood back "the wind reading was only a caution whilst I recovered, however, I think Tazuna-san would feel much safer if you continued Tomoko."

"Actually…" Tazuna cut in "I feel safe enough with you back to full health, besides… I think a good long rest is a little over due for Tomoko-san."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at the bridge builder, not sure whether to fully believe him.

"Kakashi" Sasuke suddenly spoke, "you don't want to get in a situation where she'll throw a seizure."

"Okay" I finally spoke and nudged out of Sasuke's hold. "I know I've been a little difficult to be around, but I don't need to babied." I held my hand up with my index finger pointing up, "first of all, I will not have a seizure, that symptom has been and gone and my brain has adjusted to it."

I then put up my middle finger, "secondly, the worst symptom that I could get at my age is a nose bleed, the dizziness is purely from exhaustion."

Now the third finger "and finally, sensei… I really want my vambrace back!"

Everyone stared at me stunned at my little outburst. Kakashi remained silent for a while till he asked…

"Tomoko… do you even know what they are?"

He had me there… "well, no… but I trust my family enough to believe that they will help me in battle. I can't guarantee what will happen, but I'll never know unless you let me try."

Once again silence as Kakashi sighed "alright…" He muttered and with that he left the room. I waited in the kitchen, not sure whether he was coming back or not.

He did, and with my vambraces being carefully carried in his hands. I couldn't help but smile, it was like seeing them again for the first time. but as I went to grab them he pulled them away, causing me to throw him a confused glance.

"Don't make me regret this Tomoko" he told me sternly.

I straightened up slightly and nodded, slowly taking what belonged to me back in my arms "thank you Sensei, I won't, you can trust me."

Through his mask I could see a crease of a smile "I know, now go rest… you earned it."

* * *

It was the next day, after having a good nights rest, no bad dreams either, I was much more relaxed and happier.

After getting changed, I picked up one of my vambraces, "I don't know what you are, but I have faith that no matter what happens, you will help me". Slowly, I fastened each vambrace tightly on each arm, admiring the metal as I went along. It sounds strange, but now that I had them back, I felt complete… like I could take on the world.

"Hey…"

I looked up to the door to see Sasuke standing there "the dope didn't come back last night, Kakashi's worried, so he wants us to find him."

I talked towards him "is Sakura coming as well?"

Sasuke started walking down the hall "no she'll be staying with the old man."

I started following him down the hallway. Now that I think about it, this was our first time alone since he confronted me on the pier… so awkward was a real understatement. Is it strange that I find myself… not disliking Sasuke as much? Since starting this mission, I've seen signs of the old Sasuke come through. Like that eating competition? I remember him when he was younger, he would eat so much, then going out to train, only to barf it all up and have myself and Itachi to bail him out.

He's always been stubborn, brash and somewhat, dare I say it, over dramatic at times. However, was was never arrogant, well not to me of his family. In the academy, well... He was a little it, but that was mostly due to the fact there was so much pressure to live up to his brother.

Itachi, he was always the complete opposite, so quiet and collective. He never boasted, he was the kind were if you gave compliment, he wouldn't fully believe you. I remember when the Uchiha clan would speak on how reserved he could be, but I found that hard believe since whenever I saw him, he was always so gentle. Like the day he saved me from falling... And what happened after I saw the Sharingan for the first time.

* * *

_"Itachi" called Fugaku through the house, I watched as the elder Uchiha entered the hallway with a stern expression. After my fall from the rock, Itachi stopped training to take me and Sasuke home. The whole way home Itachi carried me on his back, I'm guessing he felt I was still in shock from the fall._

_To be honest, I think I was enjoying it a bit too much. Not that I'd ever admit it to anyone, but I really looked up to him, so being carried by him made me a little giddy. _

_"I thought you were training, and what is Sasuke and Tomoko doing with you?" he asked firmly. Itachi gently placed me back on the floor. Both me and Sasuke couldn't help but share nervous glances, we both knew that disturbing Itachi's training was a big no-no in Fugaku's eyes._

_"I finished my training early, on the way home I ran into Sasuke and Tomoko-chan. Unfortunately Tomoko took a tumble so I wanted to bring her back immediately" Itachi casually explained, causing me and Sasuke to stare at him with wide eyes._

_Fugaku narrowed his eyes at all of us, then stared down at me "are you alright Tomoko?" He asked me._

_I nervously nodded "I'm okay, I'm just glad Itachi-sama was there." _

_Fugaku chuckled "still calling him sama huh?"_

_I blushed slightly. Ever since living here, I've been trying to pick up the different language. Well... The first word I learnt, surprise surprise, was Sama due to the fact it was the first word I had heard._

_I learnt that it you gave it to someone that you held in high respect. So for example the Hokage was the most powerful shinobi in the village, so naturally the other ninjas called him Sama. In my eyes, Itachi was somone who I respected greatly, so it felt natural to do so. His parents found it cute, not understanding how serious I actually was._

_it seemed he excepted it the excuse, but not before telling me to be more careful. As he walked further in the house he shouted back for Itachi not to be late for the meeting. This caused Sasuke to perk up._

_"There's a meeting tonight nii-san?"_

_Itachi nodded, but didn't really say anything else on the matter. Once again I looked up at him, I know staring was rude, but... I wanted to see his eyes. not the black, charcoal ones… no… I wanted to see that flash of crimson._

_Itachi noticed my burning gaze and stared right back at me "is something wrong?" he asked me. I narrowed my eyes at him, which I think made him a little uncomfortable. I finally motion my index my finger at him to come closer, which he did, by kneeling down at my level._

_I continued to stare into his eyes, trying to find some hint of red… _

_"Tomoko-chan?" _

_But he was silenced as Placed both my tiny hands on either side of his face. Gently, I stretched the skin around his eyes, hoping to trigger something. I was surprised that he didn't stop me, he just stayed perfectly still._

_Sasuke was watching us with great interest, in all honesty I forgot he was still here._

_"Tomoko-chan" Itachi softly grabbed both of my hands, which in his were the size of cat paws compared to his. "I think I know what you're looking for…" He paused slightly, as he now placed his hand on the side of my face. For some reason, he looked incredibly sad. Like he was saying 'I wish you didn't have to see that'._

_"Is there something wrong with your eyes Itachi-sama?" I asked innocently._

_Itachi let out a chuckle, pacing his hand down on his lap, "no its nothing like that, its… its a special technique the Uchiha have…"_

_"It's called the Sharingan" Sasuke cut in proudly "all Uchiha have it!" _

_I blinked "does that mean… you have it as well Sasuke-chan?"_

_Sasuke nodded "I will eventually, its takes a lot of skill for it to be awakened within you."_

_Itachi glanced at this brother, than back to mewing a very serious expression. "High pressured situations and emotions often trigger the Sharingan" he elucidated, "it can be… hard to control at times."_

_I digested what they were telling me. Although I nearly got hurt, I wouldn't consider Itachi saving me a high pressured situation. Well, not for him anyway. So what could have triggered his Sharingan?_

_Itachi stood up, "I things to do" he told us abruptly, and left the hallway to his bedroom, leaving me and Sasuke standing there._

_We were silence for a while, Itachi seemed really angry._

_"Sasuke-chan?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_hesitated a little "Is... your brother mad at me?"_

_Sasuke blinked, and laughed a little. "No, he's mad at me for putting you in danger" he replied glumly._

_"But I was just as much in the wrong as you were!" I tried to reason._

_Sasuke shook his head, "no you not understanding me, he… I think he was scared."_

_"Scared? What was he scared of?"_

_"Why… scared that you'd get hurt of course!" he answered._

_Now that surprised me, Itachi's Sharingan activated because he was afraid? This was the same Itachi, that hardly expressed his feelings to anyone, yet the thought of me injured terrified him?_

_"Why?"_

_"Why?" Sasuke repeated, clearly confused._

_"Yes why? What reason does he have to be distressed over me?" I demanded.  
_

_Now Sasuke was howling with laughter, making me increasingly annoyed._

_Finally, he calmed himself down. "It's not hard to figure out" he stressed. "He considers you family, just like I do!"_

_I was stunned, I was considered a part of the family? Of the Clan?_

_"Come on Tomoko-chan" spoke Sasuke grabbing my hand "lets go and play."_

_I decided to drop it, but I couldn't help but feel somewhat giddy._

_Family... Yes I guess, I was a member now, and I wouldn't change that for the world._

* * *

"Tomoko?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke scoffed "pay attention will you! As I was saying, you take the left side of the forest, whilst I'll take the right."

"Right… okay" and without saying another word to each other, we both went in opposite directions.

As I continued, my mind wondered back to Itachi. The man that I looked up to, that respected... It was hard to believe he was the same man who murdered his whole clan. To this day, I find it so hard to believe.

I sometimes wonder, what would happen if I ever saw him again. Would I be angry for all the pain he caused? Would I be happy after so long? Or would I be scared... scared that he would kill me like he did his clan.

when it came to Itachi... I don't I'll ever truly know.


	21. A talk with Naruto

I had searched this god forsaking forest for what felt like hours, it was never ending!

Tree after tree, I was growing more and more frustrated, "I hate this forest" I grumbled.

I wondered how Sasuke was faring, or if he actually found Naruto yet. Suddenly I sensed movement coming from the bushes, "Sasuke?" I called.

Nothing.

"Naruto?"

Still nothing…

"Naruto if this is a prank, you are dead!" I barked.

Figuring that it wasn't Sasuke nor Naruto, I prepared for the worst and got ready to attack. The brushes' rustling got even louder till…

"Oh excuse me…" spoke a soft voice.

I blinked a couple of times, to see a young girl, probably about my age, with long black hair, black eyes. She was wearing a pink kimono and carrying a basket of herbs, somehow I doubted she was gonna attack me with leaves.

"No its alright" I told her "you just startled me as all."

The girl smiled "I'm sorry, that was not my intention."

I had another good look at her, this girl was insanely pretty, I almost felt a little jealous.

"Are you a ninja as well?" she suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I breathed out "oh sorry, um… yes. How did you know that?"

"I met a young boy who has the same headband as you" she replied. I looked down at my waist to wear my head band was, then back at her "was he wearing orange by any chance?"

She nodded "yes, we talked for a bit, he was quite shocked when I told him I was a boy."

"Goddess I've been looking for him all morning- wait a minute! WHAT?!" I exclaimed finally catching on to what 'he' said.

Once again he began laughing "looks like I've shocked you to."

"Oh gosh" I breathed. "I'm really sorry, it's just… you're really pretty!" I told him.

He smiled "not as pretty as you."

Okay… that was smooth. I could feel the heat rush up to my cheeks, "I… well…. thank you!"

The boy bowed his head "pardon me but I must get going, it was nice meeting you."

"Oh… um… okay… nice meeting you too." Really Tomoko? that's the best you've got?

The boy bowed his head one last time and left.

"Wait! I didn't catch your name!" I called. But I don't think he heard me…

"Tomoko-Chan!"

I turned around to see Naruto running up to me, with Sasuke walking not far behind. When Naruto finally got closer, I couldn't help but cringe "when's the last time you washed?"

"Washed? well… um… lets see?"

"Never mind" I cut in, "I don't think I want to know."

"What's got you all flustered?" Sasuke asked as he finally caught up.

"Huh? I'm not flustered!"

"You do look a little red in face Tomoko-chan" Naruto pointed out.

"I… you... But... Well..." I continued to spluttered out words. "oh Shut up!" I yelled as I turned my back from them in embarrassment.

Sasuke chuckled arrogantly "You must have seen a cute boy or something" he teased, Naruto was now looking really confused.

"I said shut up!" and with that I stormed off.

Naruto then freaked out "Tomoko-chan? wait up!"

* * *

I finally made it back to the house, now a little more calmer than before. Naruto kept apologising to me the whole way back, even though he didn't really understand the reason, and Sasuke… well… I just wanted to punch him in the face.

"Tomoko?" Sakura called. I notice that her and Kakashi were waiting for us, "did you find Naruto?"

I finally stopped as soon as I got closer to them. But before I could answer her, a kunai knife suddenly got thrown into the ground in front of us. The three of us looked up to see the orange dressed ninja, lazing about in the tallest tree, on the highest branch.

"No way!" Sakura gasped "Naruto's able to climb all the way up there now? Amazing".

Even I have to admit, it was rather impressive.

"How do you like that!" he boasted "I can climb this high now!" He then jumped up, but in a spilt second, lost his footing and began to fall.

"IDIOT!" Sakura screeched along with Kakashi crying "THIS ISN'T GOOD!"

I, however, knew exactly what was coming and crossed my arms.

_'3… 2… 1...'_

Just as quick, Naruto ceased tumbling and now hung upside down on the branch like a bat.

"Not!" he mused, obviously proud of his little prank "you fell for it!"

"You scared me!" Sakura whined.

"ah come on! Tomoko thought it was funny!"

I shook my head and smiled, "I'm not getting involved in this" knowing that I'd probably get in trouble if I agreed.

Naruto continued laughing, which unfortunately… made him completely lose focus and relinquish his grip on the tree.

"NARUTO!" I yelled in terror.

"You idiot!" Sakura screamed "that's what happens when you get so cocky!"

Straight away I ran to catch him, even though I knew wouldn't make it on time! Thankfully, Sasuke managed to run up the log, hang from the branch (by his feet) and catch his teammate in the nick of time.

"You idiot" I heard him say.

I let out a sigh of relief "thank goddess for that…"

Sakura squealed "way to go, Sasuke-kun! You amaze me!"

Both Naruto started to climb their way down from the tree and now had their feet firmly on the ground.

"Okay" Kakashi spoke "Naruto, Sasuke, you continue training! Sakura, guard the bring builder… Tomoko, I need you to stay with me."

"Huh?" I blinked "why aren't I protecting Tazuna?"

"Because there is something I need you to do for me first, it shouldn't take to long" he explained.

"Okay…" I replied slowly. Everyone else proceeded to get on with their orders, leaving me and my sensei alone.

"Is there something the matter Sensei?"

Kakashi shook his head back and forth, "Tomoko, like the tree climbing exercise, I want you to focus and mold your chakra into one place in the body,"

I was puzzled "you want me to the climb a tree again?"

"No" he answered "I want you to focus your chakra, into you vambrace."

"Eh?"

Okay now I was really confused.

Kakashi sighed "while I kept them in my possession, I did some research and I found something particularly interesting. But I need to be sure that my theory is correct…so I ask again…"

This time, he spoke with a more stern tone "focus your chakra into the vambrace."

I've haven't seen Kakashi this serious since our survival training, so I decided to stop questioning him and did what I was told. I slowly put my hands together in a sign and closed my eyes.

"I want you to start off small" Kakashi instructed, "then gradually increase the amount of energy you put in, but do it slowly."

Listening to his voice, I began to feel a force within the centre of my body. Slowly, the force spread itself out and carefully crawled up to my arms and hands. Gradually, I could feel a warm sensation where my vambrace was.

"Amazing…" I heard Kakashi gasp, carefully I opened my eyes to see the vambrace's glowing a light tint of green. Surprised, jolted from my place, releasing my hands and stared at them.

"S-Sensei?" I stuttered "what just happened?"

"I didn't get a good look since you canceled it" he told me, "could you do it again?"

Still a little shaken, I nodded my head and once again put my hands in a seal, building up the chakra slowly, again I felt the burning sensation.

"Keep going Tomoko, you're doing well" Kakashi encouraged.

Trusting his judgment, I added more chakra.

Faintly, I could hear whispering, I couldn't really make out what they were saying… however… one voice stood out from the rest.

_**"I'm scared…"**_

I gasped, it sounded like a child. A little girl I think, and from the sound of it, she was terrified.

_**"I'm scared, I'm scared…"**_

_**"They're here!" **_another voice cried, this one was from a woman. _**"They've come for her!" **_come to think of it, it sounded a lot like my mother.

My eyes fluttered open, where I found myself in a very different forest. It didn't have the tall green trees or the fresh sea air. The forest was now rotten, the trees were dying and no sign of life could be found.

"Hello?" I called, "Sensei?"

_**"I'm scared… I'm scared… I'm scared…"**_

_**"This is all your fault!" **_A strong masculine voice bellowed, _**"If you had given her up we wouldn't be in this situation!"**_

Screams of pain, of death, pierced my ears. But I could not release my hands, looking down at them in terror, the green glow from before was now vibrant and blinding.

_**''I'm scared… I'm scared… I'm scared…"**_

Then… out of the blue, a shadow came upon me, forcing me look up. A tall woman stood there, staring at me. She was crying… her tears dripped onto my face. But it was now I noticed, with my eyes widening… she was crying blood… She then slowly went to grab me.

Not knowing what to do, the only thing that came into my mind… was to scream and close my eyes!

* * *

"Tomoko!?" I heard Kakashi call "Tomoko stop!"

The whispers were gone, the sound of the sea in the distance sang to me. I reopened my eyes, I was back in the Land of Wave… Kakashi stood in front of me, his determiner calm.

Frantically, I scanned the area, looking for any signs of what I just saw.

"Tomoko?" Kakashi called "are you alright?"

"Did you hear that?"

he through me a puzzled look "hear what?"

"The whispering" I answered, "and the woman? where is the woman?"

"The woman?" Kakashi repeated sounding very confused "Tomoko, there was no woman, its just been you and me."

"But…" I stopped myself "I even screamed! didn't you hear that?"

"No…" replied Kakashi slowly, "you've just been standing there".

_'What… the… HELL!?'_

"Tomoko are you sure you're alright? Maybe I should have waited a couple of more days to do this" I heard Kakashi mumble the last part.

Quickly recovering I replied saying "no, I'm… I'm fine, really fine. So um… what happened? Did you learn anything?"

kakashi nodded "Tomoko, are you aware of Yamakure shinobi using a special formula in the metal of their weapons?"

"Special formula? No… I don't think so."

"You don't?" Kakashi asked surprised.

I shook my head back and forth.

"It is said, that the special formula is used to help mold chakra from the body… into an object or weapon" he explained.

I scratch my head in thought "we used weapons sure, but nothing like you're describing."

Kakashi "I see, well it seems the answers that I was seeking only led to more questions."

"Kakashi-Sensei?" I spoke "please be honest with me… what do you think they do?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out what to say "I think they're what Haruo said, a weapon of some form" he told me.

"A weapon? how?" I demanded.

"I'm not sure, but its something to do with your chakra" he answered. "If I were to try to use them, they would repel me, and quite possibly injure me." He took a breath "but with you, it's like the vambrace is excepting you… like it belongs with you."

"My brother did say that they were made a specially made for me."

"Did he say why?"

"No" I replied "Are… are you going to take away my vambrace again?"

"No" said Kakashi "I think its best you hold onto them for now, just be careful with them… okay?"

I nodded.

"Good. Now… head to the bridge, I'm sure Sakura could use the help" he told me.

* * *

It was now the evening, everyone but Naruto and Sasuke were inside the house. Me, I was staring out of my bedroom window, gazing out to the sea. I thought about what I saw earlier today. The whispers, the dead forest… the woman crying blood.

Kakashi didn't see a thing… it all happened in my head. I'm surprised he didn't put me in the looney bin after that episode! Although, I think he blamed it all on the exhaustion.

Maybe that was it, or am I just fooling myself? was it a memory? No… I don't remember experiencing anything like that. But then again… I don't really remember a lot before the attack. Ever since receiving my vambrace, I remember things in flashes, only to have them fade away just as quickly.

Once again, I tried to picture my life before the attack, before the ANBU ops found us. However, my mind kept going blank…

"Tomoko!" Sakura shouted from the other room "dinner is ready!"

I took my time leaving the room and eventually sitting down at the dinner table, Tsunami had just set the food on the table.

"They're late" Sakura stated crossly, "I understand why Naruto's late, but Sasuke-kun?"

I scoffed "Oh please, when it comes to training, Sasuke can be much worst!"

"But Sasuke-kun is amazing!" she defended.

I sighed "clearly you don't have a clue, that boy has that Uchiha stubbornness in his veins."

"Ah yes" spoke Kakashi "I keep forgetting that you two grew up together."

Tazuna looked up in surprise, "really? neither of you ever mentioned that."

I shrugged, "didn't really see a need to mention it, besides… we're not exactly close anymore."

"But you're teammates" Tazuna stated, "and you don't find it just a little bit weird that you're in the same group?"

Once again I shrugged. "I won't deny that I was surprised at first, then again… I didn't expect to be in a four man cell."

The front door opened, making us all turn to face it. Sasuke was carrying Naruto through the door, and they looked like they had been mud fighting.

"What's with you two" Tazuna asked "You look really dirty and tired."

Naruto began chortling "we both climbed to the top."

Kakashi nodded "good. Naruto, Sasuke… You two guard Tazuna-san next time, as well."

Naruto started cheering, clearly forgetting that Sasuke was supporting his weight, causing them to both fall over.

"You Idiot!" Sasuke growled making everyone laugh, hell even I had a giggle. I watched both boys bicker between themselves… well… I was actually watching Sasuke.

_'Now that I think about it… Most of my childhood memories, are when I lived with the Uchihas.'_

When I was younger, I guess my memory loss never really bothered me that much… or I figured I would regain them through time. However, nine years have past since I moved here… and still… I can't remember everything. I mean sure, I remember seeing Gatoh and the stuff in my dreams, that is if they even were memories at all.

So I guess that my life… truly started, when me and my brother were adopted by the Uchihas. They invited us into their home, fed our stomachs and clothed our backs. We owed everything to them, and they took nothing from us.

"Tomoko? aren't you hungry?" Tsunami asked.

"Wha?" snapping out of it, I noticed everyone was now sat down eating.

_'How didn't I notice that?' _I asked myself feeling my eye twitch. "I'm sorry" I answered "got caught up in my thoughts" I then proceeded to eat quietly. The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful, we all made small talk… well… everyone except for Inari.

The small boy hadn't whispered a word to any of us since we came here, I often wondered what was going through his head.

"The Bridge is almost complete" stated Tazuna, as he finished his meal "It's thanks to you."

Tsunami began collecting everyone's place, now that we to had finished. "But don't push yourself so much" she scolded.

"I wanted to ask this before" the bridge builder began, "but why are you still here? Even when I lied about the request details?"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment, then leaned on his elbows, with his right hand on top of the left. "Not doing right when you know it is right is a coward's way. There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander."

Tazuna and Tsunami threw him a 'what-the-hell' look.

"They're the teachings of the previous Hokage" he answered the unasked question.

I heard Inari huff beside me, clearly making a point that he thought it was a load of rubbish. I glanced over at Naruto, to see that he had fallen fast asleep in his own arms. Suddenly, I could sense the young boy next to me shaking… tears running down his cheeks.

"Why…" he choked.

I raised my eyebrow at him, he was staring at Naruto, who at this point woke up and stared right back.

"What?" he muttered lifting his head up higher.

Inari suddenly slammed both hands on the table and stood up. "WHY ARE YOU TRYING SO HARD THAT YOU END UP LIKE THAT?" He cried, "YOU CAN'T BEAT GATOH'S MEN EVEN IF YOU TRAIN!"

We all stared at him in shock at his sudden outburst, he explained that no matter how hard you try to pretty up words, the weak people are going to lose against the strong.

Naruto, surprisingly, seemed more irritated than surprised, as he rested his head back into his arms "Shut up. I'm different from you."

"Naruto!" I scolded.

"SHUT UP!" Inari yelled cutting me off, "IT PISSES ME OFF WHEN I WATCH YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS COUNTRY, AND YOU'RE SO NOSY!"

_'Okay this is getting a little out of hand' _I thought.

"I'M DIFFERENT FROM YOU!" Inari continued, "YOU'RE JUST SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW ANY REAL PAIN AND JUST LAUGHS ALL THE TIME!"

I noticed Naruto tense up _'oh crap this isn't good!'_

"Is that why you're pretending to be the main character of a tragedy and just crying?" he asked, strangely calm "an idiot like you can just keep crying…"

He then lifted his head up and yelled "YOU CRYBABY!"

Inari stared back at him, stunned.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped "that's too much!"

Naruto however, didn't want to hear it and walked off further into the house. Sasuke said nothing the whole time. What could he say? since he too has gone through emotional pain. Inari continued crying next to me… obviously upset at what Naruto said.

"I'll go and talk to him…" I announced, getting up from the table and walked down the hall. It only took a short walk to his and Sasuke's room.

I knocked on the door "can I come in?" I asked.

There was a pause…

"Sure" he replied.

I entered the room and shut the door quietly behind me. He was lying on his bed, with his arms behind his head lounging. Slowly, I walked over till I reached him "move ya feet."

He looked up at me with his eyebrows raised as if to say 'why?'

I smiled and placed my right hand on my hip, "its rude not to offer a lady a seat… now move your feet". He still was looking at me as if I had two heads, so I decided to just move them myself and sit at the end of the bed. He didn't complain, probably because he figured I wouldn't listen anyway.

Once I had gotten comfortable I stared at him, waiting patiently for him to talk.

"Are you here to lecture me?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"nope" I replied.

"to give me pity?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"So you're going to call me a jerk for yelling at him" he stated more than asked.

"Well whilst that is true" I told him "no, I wasn't going to do that either."

Finally he sat up to look at me "then… why are you here?"

I gave him a long stare "I came to check if you were alright."

Naruto laid back down on his back, "what makes you think I'm not?" he asked in a bratish tone.

I stayed silent for a bit. "Well…" I started hesitantly, "if you don't mind me saying, but it seemed to me, from the way you reacted to Inari's outburst, was something that you… probably told yourself at some stage".

Naruto didn't say anything, he wasn't really the type to open up about his neglect in the village. In fact, it seemed at times he would pretend it didn't even exist.

"Yeah…" he muttered "I guess you could say that…"

Once again the room fell silent, all that could be heard was the ocean currents in the distance. I stared out the window, gazing at the full moon "you know, when I very first came here… the village I mean, I didn't talk to anyone. I missed my mother, from what I could remember of her… and I wasn't use to the bustling village."

At this point Naruto sat back up and was looking at me… listening…

"I guess you could say… it was a shock to the system" I concluded.

"You can't remember your mother?" Naruto asked.

I looked back at him "I remember bits and pieces, but nothing solid. I guess, I was so traumatised by the attack on my village I lost my memory."

"Wait hang on!" Naruto cut in "what attack?"

I blinked, suddenly remembering that he didn't know, I guess there was no avoiding it now.

"The reason me and my brother came to the village, was because mine was attacked" I explained. "Haruo and I traveled fast and hard, but we were weak and hungry. That's when the ANBU squad found us… and brought us back to the village."

"I…" Naruto gasped "I had no idea… who was it that attacked you?"

"Well, the Hokage believed it to be occult worshippers seeking revenge on Yamakure. But no solid evidence was found to prove that."

Naruto was quiet for a moment, "So that's why you the Uchihas took you both in."

I nodded "at first it was only for a little while, whilst the attack was investigated or Yamakure claimed us to come back. But that never happened and we kinda began settling after a little while."

I took a breath "we eventually moved out of the Uchiha compound and have fended for ourselves since."

Naruto stared at me, clearly shocked at my story. "So…" he whispered "you really couldn't remember anything prior to the attack?"

"I still can't" I answered. "Well, it sometimes it comes in flashes, like something I see triggers it. But they seem to go as quickly as they arrive."

Suddenly Naruto sprang from where he was and pulled me into an embrace.

"Naruto?" I gasped, eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry Tomoko" he spoke quietly, his voice shaking "I… I really had no idea you were dealing with all that!"

I smiled and patted his back "hey you couldn't have known… I wasn't exactly yelling to the hills about it."

"But still…" he breathed, "if I'd of known, I… I would've been there for you more, like you've been for me."

Okay… I was not expecting that at all, carefully I pushed back out of his embrace. "Thank you Naruto" I told him truthfully, "but you don't have to do all that, all I ask is for you to be yourself… and maybe not get so worked up over stuff."

Naruto laughed a little and rested his hands behind his head "okay, you got it!"


	22. The Boy in the Mask

**NOTE: Some changes have been made to Tomoko's outfit, I've adjusted this in past chapters as well, but if you don't want to go through all that I'll briefly tell you here:**

**A white, cropped tank top that show's off the stomach.**

**A black, buttonless, sleeveless, waist coat (very thin material, kinda like a cardigan, only made of cotton) that Tomoko ties into a knot just above her belly button.**

**Black and grey cut off trousers.**

**ninja headband around her waist.**

**normal ninja sandals with her ankles and tiber bone wrapped in bandages.**

**Thanks and enjoy the chapter!**

**xox **

* * *

Me and Naruto talked a little while longer, before we both decided that it was time for him to rest. As Quietly as I could, I stepped into the hallway and gently closed the door.

"So you and the idiot are friends now?"

I let out a squeak of fright and nearly jumped out of my skin. "UCHIHA!" I exclaimed "That wasn't funny!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "it wasn't supposed to be, and you didn't answer my question."

Finally catching my breath, I answered his very odd question "yeah I suppose so, is that a problem?"

Sasuke was silence for a moment "no, I guess not."

He had been acting really weird lately, almost like he was trying to make conversation with me. Problem was, we both made it incredibly awkward. It became obvious to me that Sasuke, still had no clue why I am so distance, even though it was him that put the distance between us.

"Did something happen today?"

I blinked, not understanding what he was talking about.

"Kakashi asked you to stay behind this morning, did something happen?" he repeated.

I raised an eyebrow "what makes you ask that?"

Sasuke closed his eyes "I've known you for nine years…"

"Five" I cut in.

He reopened his eyes in confusion "five?"

I kept a stern gaze "you've known me for five years. The past four do not count."

"Are you saying that you've changed since then?" he questioned.

"Everyone changes" I answered simply "you of all people should know that."

He didn't have a comeback to that, because he knew I was right. Eeven so, no matter how long we've actually know each other, I can tell when something is bothering you."

I shook my head at him, with a sad smile "I'm afraid you lost the right to ask of my well-being a long time ago Sasuke."

"What! So you can tell Naruto your problems and not me?!" he snapped, clearly insulted.

"Yes!" I shot back "at least he actually values friendship, unlike you! Who threw it away at the click of a finger."

"Oh here we go," he droned out, "this cryptic speaking on what I did to you, but you won't actually tell me what it is!"

I laughed sarcastically "well one thing sure hasn't changed, you're still as naive as ever!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at me. "Look, we are on the same team now" he told me, "which means we have to start being on the same page. Now I don't particularly like it, but I've come to accept it, so maybe you should to and let bygones be bygones."

"No."

And that's when the switch happened, that Uchiha anger came out full swing to its one target… me.

"NO!?" he bellowed "This is getting stupid! What did I do Tomoko!? Huh!? We grew apart?! At least that's what I thought but you are clearly still bitter about it all!"

"You want to know why I'm so bitter about everything!?"

"Yes!" Sasauke answered "enlighten me Mori! What did I do to make you hate me so much!"

"YOU TOLD ME I NO LONGER MATTERED!"

Silence followed, Sasuke's jaw was to the floor and his eyes like saucers. It was only now I realised that I had tears running down my cheeks.

"You looked at me dead in the eye" I sniffed, "and told me that I would only be a distraction, and you had more important things to worry about than a pathetic girl like me, who didn't even belong in the village."

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief, as if he didn't believe me.

"It was after the massacre, when you decided on your revenge" I confirmed, now wiping the tears away "That week was the worst ever, because not only did I lose our family… I lost you to."

I turned my back on him "Do you understand now?" I asked him harshly "you weren't the only one effected by their deaths, I mourned for weeks. Haruo was hardly there, so all I had left was you…"

I turned my head to look at him, "don't you understand that it was you and your family that gave me a reason to smile again? To cope with my mothers lose?"

Sasuke still stared at me with a shocked expression "Tomoko… I…"

"Save it!" I interrupted, once again silence followed...

"You know" I said softly "that night the Uchiha clan died, my heart broke." I paused "the day you pushed me away… my heart shattered."

I walked away, leaving Sasuke standing there… and not looking back.

* * *

Kakashi, Tazuna and Tsunami, who were still in the kitchen, sat there stunned at the conclusion of Tomoko and Sasuke's fight. Yes… they had heard every word. Sakura had long, gone to bed before hand, but it would be no surprise if she had heard it to. Kakashi not long returned after his chat with Inari.

"Shouldn't… we go see if they're okay?" Tsunami asked gingerly.

Kakashi shook his head back and forth "no, that fight needed to happen… I'm surprised it boiled for this long."

"You sound almost pleased Kakashi-san" noted Tazuna.

Kakashi laced his hands together and leaned on his elbows. "Both Sasuke and Tomoko have gone through a lot of turmoil" he explained "but even so, they've always had one another, even if they fight all the time."

"So… you're saying they need each other?" Tazuna asked.

"Yes," the sensei answer "well, in a sense. Sasuke has been in a very dark place for a long time and has isolated himself from everyone. In the past, Tomoko always brought out the best him, made him think rationally. He's alway's cared for her, even when they weren't talking."

He paused to take a breath "as for Tomoko, even though she has her brother, is just lonely. She went from a well structured clan and family to absolutely nothing in a matter of weeks. The only thing that really sustained her, the Uchiha clan, was ripped from her grasp, and the repercussions of losing her second family came flooding back full force."

"So…" Tsunami spoke "what's to happen now".

"Baby steps" Kakashi replied "baby steps back to the friendship they once had."

* * *

To say things were awkward the next day, was an understatement. After my fight with Sasuke, I felt incredibly embarrassed at breakfast, because it seemed everyone but Kakashi was giving me a wide birth.

_'Great… now everyone thinks I'm a loose cannon.'_

"Well," spoke Kakashi "we best be off you lot."

"Shouldn't we go get Naruto?" I asked.

Kakashi shook his head "Naruto used to much energy in his training, he needs to rest."

"Fair enough" I replied as I followed everyone out of the house.

"Please take care of Naruto for me" Kakashi asked turning back to Tsunami, who was seeing us out. "He used his body to the max, so I think he won't be able to move for today."

Tsunami nodded "Kakashi-san, is your body feeling well now?"

Kakashi laughed a little "yes, somehow…"

"Bye!" Tazuna yelled as we began walking. Once again, things got incredibly awkward. I glanced at Sasuke, he hadn't looked in my direction nor whispered a word to anyone.

If Sakura heard anything about the fight, I'm guessing she was trying to pretend it didn't happened, due the fact she was talking way too much.

"You know, I'm looking forward to the end of this mission." Sakura chirped.

I glanced at her "don't we all?"

"Ah come on" she chimed "you gotta admit, due to this being our first major mission, its gonna be pretty gratifying when we're home."

I closed my eyes "we got attacked by a high level ninja, Kakashi was out for days, I haven't had a moments peace and my body clock has gone completely out of whack! So for me… this has been hard. What do you think of that?"

"I…" Sakura began, but it seems she was at a lost of words.

I sighed "the first thing I'm doing as soon as I get home, is go into hibernation for a week!"

Kakashi glanced at me, seemingly taking a note of my grumpiness "I'm not sure that's the best solution Tomoko, besides… don't start thinking about home just yet. Whether the bridge is nearly complete or not, we still have a job to do."

I waved my hand dismissively "yeah, yeah I know, the worse that could happen is we get ambushed or killed, I got it."

We finally reached the bridge, but there was something off about it.

_'I can't hear any construction work…'_

"What is this!?" Tazuna bellowed.

In front of us all the workers laid sprawled out on the floor, they didn't seem to be mortally injured but still…

Me and my big mouth…

"What's wrong?" Tazuna demanded "What happened?"

"It can't be…" I heard Kakashi say under his breath. Thick, white mist surrounded the bridge.

"I think you'll find it is" I said sarcastically.

"Sasuke, Sakura, he's coming!" he told them.

We all formed a circle around the bridge builder, weapons at the ready.

"Tomoko… can you sense anything?" he asked me.

I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds around me. Faintly I could hear heavy footsteps, that sounded very familiar "oh yeah its him all right, but I can't tell whether he's alone or not."

It seemed that was all the confirmation that he needed, as Kakashi immediately made a hand sign to gather up his chakra.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is his Mist Concealment technique, right?" Sakura asked.

I could feel my heart pounding, my vambraces, pulsing with heat up my arm… telling me danger was coming.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi" came the voice of Zabuza from the thick mist "and you're still carrying those kids."

Where was he? I have to keep trying.

"He's shaking again, how pitiful."

I opened my eyes to see what he was talking about, turns out it was Sasuke.

Suddenly, I could sense several people coming around us.

"Watch it! He's cloned himself!" I shouted. As is on cue, four Zabuza clones surrounded us, but I was prepared.

A 'ahem' could be heard from beside me "I'm shaking with excitement" Sasuke replied confidently.

"Go for it Sasuke" Kakashi ordered.

I heard more footsteps about a metre away, "they're all clones, I sense the real one further back".

Sasuke didn't hesitate, one by one, as quick as a flash, he took the clones down with one swipe of his kunai.

_'Is it just me… or are his senses getting much keener.'_

"Oh… He can defeat the water clones."

"To your right Sensei!" I spoke "there's two of them!"

Zabuza and the other person finally revealed themselves "and the girl's senses have gotten better, they both got stronger."

I looked up in surprise at his partner, "its you…"

"Two rivals has appeared for you, Haku" Zabuza mused to the young boy wearing the mask.

"It seems like it" Haku answered calmly.

"So that's your name" I stated.

Haku tilted his head to the side, "I remember you being a bit of a problem for me" he calmly said.

"Well, what can I say" I replied "you can never be too careful."

"Indeed" he agreed.

"Oh my… My prediction was right." Kakashi spoke.

"Your prediction?" Tazuna repeated, not understanding.

"The masked guy" he confirmed.

Sakura made a weird, confused but angry face, obviously she wasn't expecting it to be right.

"Just as I thought, too…" Sasuke cut in making me glare at him.

_'Yeah right!'_

"So it was a lie that he was a pursuing ninja from the Hidden Village in the Mist" Tazuna told himself.

Kakashi replied with "he's on Zabuza's side no matter how you look at it. They're lined up so nicely."

"Nicely, isn't the word I'd use to describe our current situation" I spoke harshly.

Sakura huffed "Who does he think he is, coming out like that…"

"I hate conceited kids like that" stated Kakashi, which caused a mortified expression to cross my face.

"Say that a little louder Sensei! I'm not sure he heard you!"

"He's better than you in that field, Kakashi-sensei" Sakura said 'oh-so-matter-factly'. For the first time ever, I agreed with her snobbish remark.

"Ah… really?" he asked rather surprised.

I shook my head "seriously Sensei, you cease to amaze me."

"I'll fight him" Sasuke suddenly announced, reminding us once again where we were.

"What?" I heard Sakura gasp.

I to looked at him, as he said very calmly "he pulled that stupid act on us… I hate conceited guys like that."

"What is it with you lot and insulting the enemy!?" I said through gritted teeth.

Sakura gushed "you're so cool, Sasuke-kun."

I noticed Kakashi sigh deeply in disbelief "Sakura never corrects Sasuke…"

I raised my eyebrow "are you seriously that surprised?"

"He's quite a boy" I heard Haku say. It seemed he was talking to the swordsmen "even if a water clone only has one-tenth of the original person's power… He dealt with those clones well."

"What's he saying?" Sakura asked.

"He's complimenting Sasuke" I answered. Zabuza took notice of my ability to hear so well from my distance.

He then smirked through his bandaged face "but we made the first move. Go. And watch out for the girl, she's going to make things a lot more complicated."

I narrowed my eyes at him "Get ready…" I told Sasuke.

Haku agreed, and as quick as blink, approached us in a tornado like motion. The sound of his movements created a high pitched scream, which caused me to cringe. "Ah that bastard!" I cursed, I could feel my ears ringing from the sudden volume.

I became disorientated, and wasn't sure what happened next.

"Tomoko!?" Sakura called noticing my stumble slightly.

I shook my head then held my hand up "I'm alright, the guy just threw me off a little." With my sight less fuzzy and my hearing returning, I now saw that Sasuke had engaged in battle with the masked ninja, Kunai against needle.

"Oh?" Zabuza mused "he was able to catch up to his speed."

Once again I glared at him, which notified Kakashi that my earing was back. "Sakura, stick with Tazuna-san and don't get too far away from me" he told her, "We'll let Sasuke deal with him."

"What about me?" I asked.

"Assist Sasuke, use your wind reading to warn him of anything" he ordered.

I nodded and continued to watch the two boys fight, it was pretty even so far…

"I don't want to kill you, but you won't back off right?" I heard Haku ask.

Sasuke smirked "what are you stupid?"

"Don't get so cocky idiot!" I yelled "focus on the task at hand."

"Hm… as I thought" Haku breathed. "But you won't be able to keep up with me for my next move."

I raised my eyebrow, what could he possibly mean?

"And I'm already two steps ahead of you" he concluded.

_'Two steps ahead? What is he talking about?'_

I moved my body to the side slightly, which caused me to reposition my foot, a tiny splash echoed against my eardrums.

Looking down I finally noticed we were surrounded by water… and Sasuke's arm was kept busy, therefore not able to mold chakra.

"Shit!" I cursed as I got out my kunai, "Sakura stay here!"

As I ran to aid my teammate, my suspicions were corrected, he could create seals with one hand!

"Flying water of a Thousands Kills" I heard him say and stomped his foot. The water, once liquid mirrors on the ground, shot up in a violent manner, blocking me from them. They then hardened into needles.

"Sasuke watch out!"

But he was already planning a counter, as he focused his chakra to his feet, the needles went for their target, and he managed to dodge them.

"Sasuke he's moved further back by two jumps" I informed him.

Sasuke took note of my instruction and threw three shuriken stars at him, which Haku dodged as well. But that was what Sasuke wanted, as he suddenly appeared behind his opponent.

"You're pretty slow" he told him which got me riled up again.

"God dammit Sasuke, focus!"

But he clearly ignored me "Now, you can only receive and block my attacks." They both went in for the blow, only to block each other, Sasuke though, hid a kunai behind his back and threw it, causing Haku to duck.

Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke kicked him square in the face, sending him flying. I ran to catch up with him again and hear him boast about how his speed was better.

Great, he was becoming arrogant, which leads to stupid mistakes. I've given up trying to tell him now… he clearly isn't listening.

"You can't make fun of our team just because we have children" I heard Kakashi say proudly. "Sasuke is one of the village of Konoha's top rookies, Tomoko is the best young wind reader I've ever known, Sakura is the village's shrewdest child."

I felt a wet drop form at the back of my head "then what's Naruto?" I quietly asked myself.

"And the other one likes to show off and is number one in surprising people, he's the noisy ninja Naruto" he concluded.

_'Well… I guess that description is pretty accurate.'_

Zabuza found this amusing, as he began chuckling "Haku, do you understand that you're going to get defeated like this?"

His partner stood up "yes" he answered.

I blinked "so he was holding back, I knew it was too good to be true!"

I stopped speaking when I saw the amount of Chakra that was radiating off his body, it was bright, navy blue… something I'd never seen before.

"What is that?" Sasuke asked.

"Trouble" I replied.

Zabuza chuckled again "that girl is being a pest, get rid of her first if you can" he ordered.

Haku nodded, accepting his order "it's a shame" he said to us "you are quite beautiful…"

I blinked "are you complimenting me?"

He nodded "I wish you didn't get involved, but I must do what I am ordered."

The air became bone chilling cold in a matter of seconds, Haku began to form a hand seal I'd never seen before. His index fingers where pressed together, with his middle fingers over the index, pressing each other over the top.

Behind me, I could hear a strange crackling sound, like frost under a foot, only with ten times the ferocity. The same sound now surrounded us, I stared in shock as the water rose from the ground like a feather, and like a cold harsh winter, frozen into rectangle mirrors. I couldn't tell you how many there were, but I can say that these mirrors covered the both of us from every angle. The left, the right, and the top. There was no where to turn or direction to look without having a mirror blocking your path.

"Mirror of Ice Crystals" I heard Haku say.

He then preceded to walk towards one of the mirrors, stepped into it like a doorway, and slowly sunk into the glass, like a rock thrown into the sea. Both me and Sasuke stared, stunned, Haku could now be seen within the mirror.

"This is insane!" I breathed "how did he do that!?"

Sasuke was rendered speechless, light came across the mirrors, and as quick as it came, Haku was now appearing in every single mirror, staring at us.

"What is… he going to do?" Sasuke stuttered.

I looked around, hoping to find a way out "this isn't good…"

"Now…" said Haku, but I'm not sure where "lets begin."

"No, the mirrors are reflecting the vibrations of his voice" I cried.

Sasuke shot me a look "meaning what?"

"Meaning…" I began "I can't pin point where he'll be coming from and when… my wind reading has been rendered useless."

"I will show you my true speed" Haku told us. I needle came flying out of one of the mirrors, ripping the sleeve of Sasuke's shirt, another shot down, ripping the other.

"Sasu-" I was cut off, feeling a needle shoot past my thigh, ripping the cloth.

"SASUKE! TOMOKO!" I heard Kakashi shout to us.

Needles began showering upon us, scratching our bodies from head to toe. I screeched from the sudden pain, throwing my arms over my face to shield it. I could hear Sasuke screaming beside me, clearing hurting as well.

I went to grab a weapon, only to have a needle scrape the top of my hand and stop me.

"Ahh" I cried cradling my hand, even though the metal of my vambrace protected it, the pain from the thrown force was still painful.

The shower of Needles was relentless, pushing me to the ground in a fertile position, I glanced up to see Sasuke crouched own, his hands over his head. The needles scratching his skin, blood splurting from his wounds. His screams sounded like something out of a horror movie, a victim being tortured continuously.

By now I had tears rolling down my cheeks, the cries of agony would never justify the pain I was feeling. If you could imagine a deep cat scratch, only with ten times more force and sharpness, over and over again, all over your body… it was like that…

_'Why isn't anyone trying to save us?' _I asked myself, closing my eyes, only just remembering Zabuza was out there, blocking my sensei's path. This is what he wanted, to get me and Sasuke completely isolated and very vulnerable.

"T-Tomoko…" I heard him gasp, I looked up at him, blood know trickling down from his forehead "h-hang on…"

I could now feel blood oozing out of my wounds, I was completely covered in raw red cuts, the pain paralysed me from moving. I could see Sasuke slowly crawlimg closer to me, whilst still attempting to shield himself and crying out in anguish.

Suddenly I heard someone yell something, it sounded like Sakura. I noticed a kunai flying towards one of the mirrors, Haku however, stepped out of the mirror, ceasing his attack, and caught the knife flawlessly.

Sasuke collapsed, his hand about an inch away from mine as we both laid there, the affliction still aching.

"S-sas… Sasuke" I heaved, it hurt so much to talk. He lifted his head up slightly, his face creased with distress.

"Are… are you… alright?" he managed to asked.

I laughed slightly, although it was a struggle "you kidding?" I joked "this is like a whole new beauty regimen for me."

Sasuke chuckled slightly "that's one way of describing it."

Seriously… only we can go from screaming at each other, to not talking, to cracking jokes in a very sticky situation.

Our humorous moment was cut short when two shuriken stars were flung at Haku, a direct hit and caused him to collapse out of the mirror. Now you'd think this would give myself and Sasuke a chance to run for an escape, but I know for me I was in too much pain to move.

I attempted to look around, to see where it came from, but it was no use, so I dropped my head back onto the ground.

I could see Haku slowly sit up, followed by a sudden explosion of smoke to my right…

I managed to move my head to look at the smoke, smoke that came from a ninja smoke bomb.

"oh god… please don't tell me…"

"The noisy ninja that's number one in surprising people…" Haku retold.

The smoke cleared, and there stood a certain, orange dressed ninja.

"Uzumaki Naruto is here!"


	23. Naruto Joins the Battle!

**Author's note: Past chapters are being improved and added to, so if you don't want to miss anything, I suggest you go back and read them.**

**the major changes are:**

**Chapter two, Tomoko and Hinata's relationship is explained in more detail.**

**Chapter three, Tomoko's feelings on Haruo being away so much.**

**Chapter four, more annoying Tomoko admirers and explaining why she can't read.**

**Chapter five, Sasuke and Tomoko's first encounter.**

**Chapter eight, Tomoko's flashback.**

**More changes are bound to come. I'm taking some of my reader's advice and ****tweaking the chapters, and I can assure you there are worth going over again. I will keep writting new chapters as I go along, so don't worry about me stopping again.**

**JustPlainOldMe requested if I could produce a picture of both Tomoko and Haruo, which is understandable. Unfortunately, my drawing is shockingly bad, so I'm not sure anything I do would justify them. However, if anyone is willing to have a go a drawing them and send me the link, then don't let me stop you.**

**I'll have a crack at it myself, but no promises.**

**Also, I've created a poll, concerning what I should do for a summoning technique that Tomoko should learn, you should be able to see it on my profile page.**

**Thanks for your time, and enjoy the chapter!**

**:)**

* * *

Usually, under normal circumstances, I would be thrilled to see Naruto. However, since now he's completely blown his cover to the enemy with his flashy entrance, all I wanted to do was throttle him.

"Now that I'm here" he said confidently "everything's going to be just fine".

_'You have got to be kidding me!'_

"The main character of a story usually appears like this and defeats to enemy in a flash!" he declared.

I felt a wet drop form on my head "what stories have you been reading?" I mumbled. Sasuke to, had a very pissed off expression across his face, probably thinking the same as me.

"All right" announced the orange dressed ninja "let's do this! Shadow Replication…"

"No Naruto! stop!" I managed to yell, but it was already too late, Zabuza began his attack and threw several shuriken stars in his direction.

However, it was intercepted by… Haku?

"Why?" was all I could say.

"Oy?!" I heard Kakashi yell angrily "what kind of idiot tries to execute a technique right in front of an enemy?"

Naruto made a whining noise, clearly realising his mistake.

"A ninja's essence lies within deception" Kakashi continued to rant "it relies on your ability to deceive your enemy."

Whilst Kakashi explained how ninja's perform a technique, I saw an opportunity to try and sneak out of the dome of mirrors. Slowly I crawled along the floor, every muscle in my body ached, but I tried my best to ignore it.

"Oh crap!" I heard Naruto cry "I came here to help, though…"

Sasuke noticed what I was doing, but didn't utter a word, I'm glad. He knew well enough that we were both more likely to survive this if one of us was able to escape…

"Haku, what's the meaning of this?" Zabuza questioned.

The young boy stayed silent for a moment as he stood up, "Zabuza-san, leave him to me. Please, let me do this my way".

I ceased my actions for a moment, taking note that he was now aware of his surroundings once again, I just had to wait until he was distracted.

"What did you say?" Naruto demanded angrily.

He remained silence once again, which seemed to convince his mentor not to interfere, however, he stated that Haku was too easy on his enemy.

"I'm sorry" Haku replied glumly.

_'What's up this guy! It seems to me he doesn't want to kill us, yet he is doing so because of this Bastard!' _I thought. Although Zabuza was right, he was going easy on us. None of his needles had hit my vital organs, which in a sense, was worse than killing us off straight away.

"Then, I'm going beat you first" said Naruto confidently whilst pointing at him. He then relaxed again, and stated "That mask… So you were one of Zabuza's men". He took a breath, "How dare you trick us!" he exclaimed.

Haku, bowed his head slightly and said "I'm sorry".

Well… I wasn't expecting that, this guy was so confusing. Naruto seemed to be caught off guard to, so Haku repeated what Kakashi said, "The duty of a ninja is to deceive and to find an unguarded spot".

He was getting distracted again, so I used this chance to crawl further to the edge. I was now at arms reach, holding out my hand as far as I could.

"Please don't take it personally" I heard Haku say, and without moving his gaze from Naruto, he threw a needle, as fast as light, and stabbed me through my bicep, reaching the bone.

Extreme pain shot up my arm, causing me to scream out in agony. I quickly held my hand over the wound as blood, slowly started oozing out, and drip on the floor.

"Tomoko!" Sasuke yelled out, sounding incredibly worried. I couldn't answer him, the pain made me lose my voice, and choke on the sobs erupting from my throat.

"You Bastard!" Sasuke yelled out in fury and threw a kunai at our enemy, only to have him dodge it flawlessly.

It was only now, that Naruto noticed the two of us. Took him damn long enough!

"I didn't forget about the both of you" Haku told us.

I looked up at Naruto whilst sitting up, cradling my injured arm in the process. I tried to move my hand but it was no use, the needle had done some serious damage, and trapped all my muscles so I could barely move my fingers.

"I would have liked for you two to just lie there quietly" he confessed, "but I guess I can't expect that".

_'Oh no, this isn't good'._

"Very well" he spoke casually, "I will finish the match with you first" and started walking back towards the mirrors.

"H-hey!" Naruto yelled, clearly not amused that he'd just been blown off.

"Naruto-kun, I'll deal with you later" was all Haku said and once again disappeared into mirror.

"Shit…" I mumbled "he's coming…" I tried to stand up, only to fall backwards slightly, and land next to Sasuke, who was now, sat up in a crouch position. Haku again appeared in the mirror in front of us, staring at us.

"How bad is your arm?" he asked in a whisper.

I sucked in a breath "pretty bad, I need to take this needle out".

Sasuke nodded, he shifted his focus back to Haku, who was still in front of us. Carefully he went for another weapon.

"This way" we suddenly heard from behind us.

I looked back to the front to see he had disappeared, great… now he was playing mind games with us. Not going to lie, but I was starting to panic a bit, especially with my wound.

We both watch as he slowly started appearing in all the mirrors, shit! was he going to attack again.

I tried once more to move, but it was too late. Like a hail storm, Needles descended upon us, torturing our skin with the sharp cruel needles. Sasuke managed to shield himself with his arms, but I was a sitting duck, getting scratched at every corner of my body.

The shower stopped and Sasuke fell backwards, whilst I collapsed forward, where I was sitting. My chest heaved in and out heavily, my skin covered in scratches and crimson blood.

"Tomoko" I heard Sasuke groan, as he began to crawl closer to me. I stayed in place, in too much pain to move. I felt his hand on my shoulder, and quickly pull me upright. I cried out in pain slightly, but I knew it had to be done.

"What kind of technique is he using?" I heard Sasuke ask himself, "The possibilities include him putting replications in the mirrors, and making them throw the needles all at once…"

"No" I said quietly, as I went to grab the needle stabbed in my arm, "its way too fast for that possibility to be true". Quickly and harshly, I yanked the needle out of my arm. Once again, harsh pain shot up but I had mobility back.

"Besides…" I began moving my hand around and flexing my fingers "even if he is just using replications, what's the point of these mirrors".

Sasuke stared at me as if to say 'you have a point', but there was no doubt in our minds that the mirrors were vital to his attacks.

Sasuke's attention turned to my arm, "you're bleeding out like crazy".

"I know" I answered and reached for the inside of my pouch, in there was some bandages that I always kept spare. As quickly as I could, I wrapped the wound and tied it into a little knot. "That should hold for now" I muttered.

My original plan to escape and attack from the outside failed. However, if me and Sasuke attacked from the inside, and Naruto did the same as I was planning to do, we may stand a chance of figuring out how this technique works.

Now the challenge was to let Naruto know what he had to do.

"Hey! I came to help you!"

I shook my head and blinked, only do see Naruto crouching in front of us with a grin on his face.

_'No! Naruto you knuckle head!'_

Sasuke to, didn't look impressed what so ever.

"Are you okay, Sasuke? Tomoko?" Naruto asked sounding chipper for some reason.

I couldn't believe this! Naruto was an idiot! A complete an absolute numskull! For the first time, I think in about five years, me and Sasuke desired the same thing, to kill our yellow haired teammate that was grinning like a moron!

"You idiot!" Sasuke snapped "If you're a ninja, be more careful!"

"What's with that attitude? I came to help you!" Naruto defended.

I face palmed my forehead, _'That's it, we are completely screwed'._

"If you come into the mirrors as well…" I began to explain, but Sasuke cut me off, stating it was complete waste of time and to forget about it, and threw in the insult of calling him idiot again.

"Idiot!" Naruto screeched "What do you mean idiot!?"

Sasuke clearly incredibly agitated at what had just happened, found his strength and stood up, declaring that he would destroy the mirrors.

Like a flash, he formed several seals, finishing with the tiger symbol. "Fire element…"

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Naruto asked.

"Tomoko is badly hurt, she needs to get out of here" He stated. "These mirrors are made of frozen water."

He took a breath and yelled "blazing fireball!" and blew out a gushed of red-hot flames, that erupted in front of us. Unfortunately, the flames had no effect and the ice mirrors, remained intact.

"It didn't work at all!" Naruto moaned.

"It won't melt with that kind of firepower" Haku casually explained. a blinding light shone from the mirrors, and for the third time, his needles showered upon us, only it was so fast, I did not have time to process where they were coming from.

The three of us were knocked backwards again, I unfortunately landed on my bad arm.

Naruto sat up "Damn it, where is he attacking from?" he asked loudly "are those replications?"

I too, sat up, cradling my wounded arm once more "no, there's something else to his technique… ah!"

Sasuke, who was closest to my arm, looked at it in horror. The bandaged had been cut off, and rendered unless, blood once again gushed out violently.

"remove your scarf".

I blinked "pardon?"

Sasuke began taking a kunai knife out "take off your scarf and bite into it, this is going to hurt" he once again did the tiger seal, and blew flames onto the metal, making it glow an orange heat.

I finally pieced to together what he wanted to do and did as he said. Biting the fabric, I screamed into the cotton as he carefully placed the red, hot blade over the wound, cauterising immediately. I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt, it did, like a bitch!

I dropped the scarf from my mouth, which Sasuke quickly grabbed and tied around my now, cauterised wound.

"Where's the real one?" Naruto asked, he was now standing up, searching each of the mirrors.

"There's no use in trying to follow me with your eyes" Haku informed us "I will never be caught".

"No…" I mumbled "there's got to be a way, every technique has a weakness".

Naruto, clearly becoming desperate, performed his shadow clone justu and went to on the attack.

"No stop it!" Sasuke yelled, but Naruto didn't listen, claiming he would destroy all the mirrors and see which is real. But it was all in vain as Haku destroyed them all, in the speed of light.

Naruto collapsed on the ground and Haku reappeared in the mirror in front of us, "This is a traveling technique that utilises mirror reflections that only reflect me" he explained, "From my speed, you three look like you're standing still".

"Damn it" I heard Naruto curse. I now noticed he had sat up, blood clearly visible from his forehead, "So what? I can't die here… I still have a dream I need to achieve…"

_'Naruto?'_

"The dream to make the villagers recognise me and become the Hokage!"

Haku became silent for a while, as if he was remembering something. "It is difficult for me to become a pure ninja" he finally spoke, "if it's possible, I do not what to kill you, and I do not want to make you kill me".

Okay, where the hell was this come from?!

"However…" he continued "if you are going to fight me, I will kill my compassion with a blade and become a ninja".

"Haku" I called out "you just said that you don't want to kill us, but then turn around and say you'll do it anyway! That's nothing but Hypocritical!"

Haku bowed his head slightly "you are correct, I don't wish to kill, especially you. But this bridge is a battleground, that leads to the dreams of many people. I will fight for my dream, and you will fight for your dream. Please… do not hold any grudges".

I sighed heavily, "you are one complicated person Haku…"

"I want to protect an important person" he admitted, "I want to work for him, fight for him, and make his dreams come true…"

Wait, was he talking about Zabuza?

"That is my dream, in order to make it come true, I will become a ninja. I will kill you!"

As twisted as it sounded, I kind of felt a tonne of respect for the guy. What he said was true, we all become ninja to achieve our dreams. We would do anything to achieve those dreams, even if it were to force us… in taking another person's life.

I stood up, much to my teammates surprise. I'm sick of being a sitting duck! Now was my time to fight!

"Tomoko…" Sasuke began standing up.

"Shut up" I cut in, "my arm is fine thanks to you, now lets figure out how to beat this guy".

Naruto nodded, getting to his feet as well "Yeah, just because I screwed up the first time, doesn't mean I'm going to quit!" He then began forming seals, "I'll try as many times as I need to! Shadow Replication!"

"No Naruto stop!" I yelled, along with Sasuke who said "Stop it!" But when has Naruto ever listened to anyone. Again, his clones went in for the attack, and failed as Haku took them out, one by one.

Splash!

Wait a second, what was that?

Splash!

There it was again!

But I had no more time to think, as Haku rained down a dozens needles upon us, scratching our skin once again. Naruto fell back, but it didn't take long for him, to get back onto his feet.

"What the hell…" he muttered.

I ignored him, instead, I tried to figure out where those splashes were coming from. Sasuke stood up, staring firmly in one place, as if… he saw him.

No he couldn't have, absolutely no one could have been able to keep up with the speed Haku was going, not with any average… eyes?

Wait! Sasuke! He does not have ordinary eyes, he's a Uchiha!

"One more time…" spoke Naruto and again, did the Shadow Replication justu.

Thinking fast, I kicked the water that was on the floor, into the air. Haku's attack commenced, and again the water splashed around in the air. Now there was still no way I could hit him… but someone else probably could.

However, Sasuke obviously didn't catch on, and we ended up being victims of Haku's assault, his needles slicing and scratching my body. I was beginning to get adjusted to the pain, however, I knew we wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.

Slowly I pushed my body weight back up, "S-Sasuke… the water…"

Sasuke sat up in a crouch position "I know, I saw it".

I crawled towards him "listen, I can't track his movement, not with these eyes. You however, have a slight advantage".

Sasuke looked at me as if I had two heads "are you crazy!" he whispered angrily.

I smirked "what happened to that cockiness? You saw the water, track his movements with that".

He gave me a blank look, then made his usual "ahem" noise, "keep kicking that water" he ordered.

I nodded, accepting his suggestion "okay…"

Naruto suddenly began charging, and made more clones again.

"What a stubborn boy" I heard Haku groan and went for his attack.

_'This was my chance'_

I kicked the water high in the air, forcing Haku to go through it. Sasuke immediately caught on and did his Fire Ball justu.

Haku was taken a little bit off guard, but he managed to dodge it.

"Again?" I asked forcefully.

Sasuke didn't answer, as he was consentrating on the enemy's movements, he perform the justu again, this time burning the trouser leg of Haku.

"Yes!" I cheered throwing my fist in the air. Naruto was thrown backwards, but he was back on his feet again, get as fast. I glanced at Sasuke, who was panting heavily. "You did it!" I informed him pointing at Haku "look".

He smirked, now noticing his handy work. true, it wasn't much, but it was certainly a start.

"Still need me to kick the water about?" I asked him cheekily.

He chuckled under his breath "no, I think I got this".

I threw him a stern look "don't get your hopes up, we still have a long way to go".

"I know" he replied "you don't have to tell me twice, I've learnt from the first time".

"Damn it, we were so close" Naruto snapped with his fist in the air.

"Naruto" Sasuke spoke, "can you still move?"

Naruto turned to us, "of course I can! I'm still okay!" he exclaimed crossly.

"You're a terrible lier Naruto" I pointed out, it was painfully obvious that he was exhausted.

A bright flash blinded us, "here he comes!" I called.

Sasuke got right to the point, and performed the fire ball justu again.

"Naruto run! Get out of here and attack from the outside!"

Naruto stared at him blankly at first, but then understood the memo and began running.

"You to Tomoko!" he yelled.

I shook my head "don't be an idiot! I'm not leaving you behind!" I shot back. Sasuke was about to argue, but I cut him off by getting out my kunai, and charging at one of the mirrors.

"I'll try to distract him!"

"Will you be able to?" Haku asked us, as he was rearing for an attack, he knocked Naruto back. Only for the orange dressed ninja to jump back up and charge again.

"I'm not going to lose!" Naruto bellowed.

I too kept running, trying to get his attention. It obviously worked, because Sasuke blew out his fire ball in my direction. However, Haku was too fast, flawlessly dodged it and threw a needle at Sasuke, which stabbed him in the shoulder.

"Sasuke!" I called, only to be kicked in the stomach and thrown backwards. I tumbled to the ground, holding my tummy in pain. Naruto too got kicked back… damn it! We're back where we began.

Sasuke grabbed the needle and yanked it out of his shoulder "that was good".

"Huh?" I breathed.

"What?" Naruto spoke.

"Let's to it again" Sasuke told us.

I blinked at couple of times, "right".

Naruto agreed to and we repeated what we did before, the three of us ran in different directions.

Haku however, didn't seem fazed, "I won't let it happen the way you expect, I'll stop you first". Haku threw his needle, stabbing it straight in Sasuke's kneecap. More needles came, piercing his right thigh, both arms and other leg. Sasuke tried his best to shield himself, but still, he cried out in agony.

Naruto stopped running and called out to his teammate, only to have the same done to him, only this time it was along his back.

_'No! I have to get out!'_

"Too late…"

I blinked as I saw Haku, dead in front of me, several needles held in his hands coming towards me, and knocking me backwards. It happened in slow motion, the weapon ripping my flesh, the blood pouring out. I let out a throttle, coughing up blood as I went along.

I landed with a violent thug on the floor, immediately cradling my stomach. Haku, was standing over me, his needle raised above his head.

"N-no…" I spluttered, holding up my hand in a stopping motion.

"Forgive me" he whispered.

"NO!" I clenched my eyes shut, a sudden wave of power shot from my core, and up my arm.

Flashes of green blinded my sight.


	24. Broken Promises

**URGH! THIS WAS SUCH A BITCH TO WRITE!**

**I'm sorry it took so long, but I was also editing chapters at the same time... which reminds me.**

**All chapters have now been updated and added to on this story. So like I stated before, its worth going back and seeing what has been added to the story.**

**The hard part it is over (finally), now I can really get this story moving! And I'm really excited to share Tomoko's journey with you!**

**P.S the picture for this story is Tomoko! I managed to find a cool anime creator to make a picture. You can also find a picture of Haruo on my profile.**

**remember to review and send me feedback!**

**Videokid**

**xo**

* * *

It all happened so fast, Haku standing above Tomoko's body, waiting to deliver the killing blow.

"No…" I heard her mutter, Haku whispered something to her, I couldn't quite make out what.

"NO!" She screamed again, and suddenly flashes of green blinded my vision, was that Haku?

"Tomoko!" I called out but she didn't reply. The green light soon began to fade, and Haku was knocked backwards. However, he did land safely back into his mirror.

"Tomoko?" I called again, I heard violent throttling.

'_No…' _

Not paying attention to my injuries, I dashed to where I could hear her. And what I saw was… strange. Her held up arm had a slight, green glow shining off it. Her blood was splattered all over the concrete, it looked like something out of a horror movie.

"Tomoko!" I cried desperately, running to her aid. Now I had gotten closer, I could now see the amount of damage she obtained. Her stomach looked like a pin cushion, there was so much blood. I'm surprised she was still conscious. The hand that was in the air, began to fall down, as if she no longer had the strength to hold it up. Just as fast, I caught it and held her hand firmly in mine, she was still warm, so that was a good sign.

"S-S-Sasuke…"

I looked down at her as she stared right back, looking incredibly tired. "What's with that face?" she asked simply, "you don't have to worry about me…"

"Of course I do!" I snapped cutting her off. I stared at wounds, feeling panic creep into me, I couldn't help but cry out "oh… oh god its bad! This is really bad!"

I heard her laugh slightly "always the drama queen."

I gave her a baffled look, how the hell was she finding ways to throw an insult. "Shut up! I don't think you realise how serious this looks!"

Once again she chuckled, as well as coughed slightly "just because it looks serious, doesn't mean it actually is."

"Tomoko that doesn't make sense!"

"Either way, what does it matter? What's done is done. Listen to me, you need to keep a clear head" she told me.

I tried to speak, but my words just came out in splutters.

"You can do this! I know I'm the last person you want to hear this from, and I'm probably gonna be kicking myself for admitting this. But you're the strongest person I know, and I know you can beat this guy."

"Stop it!" I cut in "I'm not letting you die!"

She smiled at me sadly "and I'm gonna try my damn hardest not to, but you need to end this now and not worry about me."

"Are you crazy!?" I snapped.

She nodded "yep, barking mad, but you know I'm right…"

"Screw being right!" I shot in harshly. "I kept a promise, and I'm going to keep it."

She looked at me puzzled "what promise?"

I sighed "to Kinosuke, I promised to protect you before we left."

She slowly sat up and stared at me with wide eyes "you… you visited him? Before we left?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Look, as much as I want to explain everything to you, now isn't the best time. Lets make a deal. You try your best to stay alive, and me and you will have a talk, that very long over due."

She stared at me a little while longer, before nodding in agreement "okay… now… help me up!"

"You can't make any sudden movements!" I ordered, trying to stop her.

She huffed "you should take your own advice." Clearly not having a choice, I pulled her up by the hand I was holding. Now standing and panting heavily, she began removing the worst of the needles. This time, she didn't cry out, she didn't shed a tear. She just aimlessly pulled them out one, by one.

Suddenly a scream echoed through my ears… it didn't sound good.

"Was that Sakura?" Tomoko asked.

I didn't reply, _'did something happen? What is Kakashi doing?!'_

I noticed Naruto shaking on the floor, and faintly mumbled Sakura's name.

"Naruto get up" Tomoko began, but winced in pain and grabbed her stomach. She clearly wasn't alright, even though she stated she was.

_'Damn it, I need to do something?' _I told myself.

"I'll do something about this" commanded Naruto as he slowly got up, "lets do this!"

How the hell was this guy still standing!?

"How futile" stated Haku.

Both myself and Tomoko watched in amazement, as Naruto began to radiated large amounts of chakra. But this was also a very stupid move, as he was pushing himself way too hard.

"Naruto stop!" Tomoko yelled, but it was no use. he charged at one of the mirrors, but Haku quickly blocked his path. Naruto did a back flip, and ran in the opposite direction. Haku was hot on his trail and ran along side of him in the mirrors.

"Naruto! Behind you!" I warned. He tried his best to dodge the attack, but he just wasn't fast enough. Needles pierced his chest, and he fell backwards onto his side.

"Naruto!" Tomoko ran quickly to his side to check on him.

"It's impossible to get out of here" Haku reminded us "I can assure you of that."

Ignoring him, I to, ran to Naruto's side and knelt down, Tomoko was trying to get him to sit up.

"Can you stand up Naruto?" she asked him.

With her help, Naruto gingerly sat up.

I sighed heavily, "don't waste your Chakra like that anymore. That's what he wants us to do."

"I know…" Naruto breathed only to collapse in Tomoko's arms.

"Naruto!" she called in a panic, trying to shake him awake. Nothing, so she wrapped her arms protectively around him "now what?!"

Damn it, this isn't looking good at all. I… I need to do something! I stood up again, my eyes are getting used to his movement…

My train of thought was cut off by our enemy, stating he'll end this now and appearing in the mirror in front of us, ready for a strike. He moved to the next mirror, and threw a needle directly at Tomoko. Seeing it as clear as day, I picked up a fallen needle. I stepped in front of my teammate, and blocked all the attacks.

"Sasuke?" I heard her breathe as I finished deflecting the needles. I was growing tired, causing me to kneel down.

"Stand up, idiot!" I yelled directly at Naruto. Tomoko once again tried to shake him awake, and he began to stir.

"Naruto!" she hissed "I can't dodge his attacks and carrying you at the same time!"

Naruto pushed out of her embrace, and sat up on his own "I know, stop being annoying!" he complained. Another rain of needles fell upon us, and again I deflected each one away.

"Tomoko move!" I yelled.

She looked at me baffled for a second, but did as I said, once she realised she was in the way. I Harshly shoved Naruto from a direct hit, but I heard Tomoko cry out from behind me. I turned to see a needle had stabbed her leg. However, she blocked two others with her vambrace.

"Protect Naruto!" she ordered, "I can handle this." My brief distraction caused me to get stabbed in the thigh, even though she said not to worry, her movements were just as sloppy as mine.

Suddenly, Haku disappeared. Frantically, I searched for him all over the place.

"Naruto!" I barked "you better not faint! I can't cover for you any longer!"

Out of no where, Tomoko was flung backwards and landed harshly her back. Haku must have stopped her from escaping again. Gingerly she sat up, but couldn't contain another bloody gag. red splatters coloured the floor, and her chin was drip with crimson.

It was just as I thought, Haku had already dealt the damaged to her internal organs. The more she moved, the more blood she lost. "Naruto! Did you here me!" I called again.

Naruto groaned "I don't need your help…"

I heard a loud thug, turning around I saw him completely passed out.

Tomoko gave me a shaky look, she was beginning to look deathly pale now, with dark circles forming around her eyes.

"Looks like they can't move anymore" Haku stated, making me glare at him. He let out an amused chuckle. Getting increasingly frustrated, I chucked the needle I was holding to his mirror, only for it to bounce off and tumble to the floor.

"Wonderful" he mused. "You move very brilliantly. You move a lot, but I will stop you with the next shot." He threw three needles at me, which I only just managed to dodge. But he followed, flawlessly appearing in one mirror after the other.

"Movement, reflexes, and situation analyzation ability. All that should be worn out!"

I followed every part of his movements, he was now stalking us, like a tiger ready to pounce his prey.

_'Calm down' _I told myself, feeling my chakra flow up my body, and around my eyes. _'Concentrate! And see through him!'_

Like a vision I saw many mirrors with Haku inside, each one predicting where he would be… the last prediction aimed for…

_'Tomoko! He's aiming for her! I have to stop him!'_

* * *

_'So tired…' _I thought. My vision was blurred, my blood was all over the place, and I was finding it progressively more difficult to breathe. I looked at my hands, at my vambrace, violently shaking with only one thought going through my head.

_'I think I'm going to die.'_

My body started to feel numb, slowly looking up. I saw my enemy, arm raised high ready to deliver his attack. But it never happened, as I was pulled back to reality by a firm grip around my waist and carried away from the deadly needles.

Sasuke landed firmly back on his feet, I glanced sideways, to see he had also grabbed Naruto, who was hanging limply in his grasp. Sasuke dropped Naruto harshly, but not intentionally, as I believed that the weight was a little too much for him. With me however, he was incredibly delicate, obviously very aware of my injures. He sat me down and held my upper body up by gripping my shoulder. Wearily, I looked up at him, only to gasp.

Red crimson eyes gazed upon me. In his left, was two tomoe marks circling his middle pupil, in his right eye, there was only one. Once again, like with his brother, they captivated me into a trance.

I blinked a couple of times, making sure I was believing what I was seeing. "Sasuke…" I whispered "you did it."

Panting heavily, he started back at me, clearly worried about my condition. "I saw him…" he said exhaling "I saw what he was going to do. It was only for a little bit, but I saw it."

Sasuke looked towards the mirror Haku was in, it was then he could now see his reflection… and his Sharingan eyes. His eyes widened slightly, surprising himself I think.

Haku too also seemed surprised, as he remained silent for some time. Or maybe he was just analysing him, it was hard to tell with that mask over his face.

I noticed Naruto still unconscious, "deal with Haku" I ordered "I'm gonna try to wake Naruto up."

"But!"

"Enough with the buts already!" I yelled "and for once in your life, do as I say!"

He said nothing after that, probably because I rendered him speechless. I crawled over to my teammate, in a lot of agony and grabbed his shoulder. "Naruto!" I snapped, shaking it harshly "Wake up now! Or I swear I'll kill you myself!"

A shot a pain went through my stomach, and I started to feel really dizzy again. I grazed my hand where the wound was, only to bring it back out and see nothing but bloodshed. There was so much, that it was dripping onto the floor, and getting socked up by Naruto's clothes. I was beginning to see double and my breathing was laboured, I had to wake him up.

"Naruto…" I whispered "get up now, I'm not gonna last much longer!"

Then, without warning, I sense Haku going for the attack, straight towards Naruto. In an instant, I moved to block the attack, and clung onto my teammate, sheltering him from the killing blow.

_'I'm ready for this.'_

Accepting my fate, I awaited Haku to finish me off. Only for it to never happen, where was the needles? What's going on?

I heard heavy breathing behind me, struggling with every breath. Naruto finally began to stir, and flutter his eyes open. "Tomoko?" he breathed "what's going on?"

I scanned to my left, the see Haku laying on the ground not moving. My eyes moved right, to see the very familiar figure standing over us.

"Sasuke?" I gingerly asked.

"Really…" he huffed "You're a burden… all the time… Naruto."

The first thing I saw was red puddles beneath him, then just how still Sasuke was.

_'No...'_

Naruto began grinning. "You did it Sasuke! You…" but he stopped mid sentence, he now realised something was really wrong.

I could feel tears blurring my vision, as Sasuke turned his head to look at me, his mouth trickling with blood. "What's with that… face.." he heaved, repeated what I said earlier. "You don't have to worry… about me…"

"You…" I began, tears streaming down my face, "You… You IDIOT!"

Naruto jolted in surprise at my outburst, Sasuke stayed the same. "I… told you to just deal with Haku!" I bellowed, "You should have listened to me!"

"You…" Naruto began "protected us? Why!?"

"How should I know?" was all Sasuke replied, which really got to me.

"I excepted what was going to happen to me! I was ready to make the sacrifice!" I exclaimed.

"I… know…" he spoke, cutting me off, "but I wasn't."

"What?" Naruto gasped.

Sasuke bobbed his head down slightly, then gazed at Naruto "I hated… you" he told him.

"Why!?" the other boy pressed, standing up "Why? I understand Tomoko but why did you protect me?"

This caused Sasuke to chortle and smirk.

Naruto clenched his fisted "I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP!" he roared.

"Who knows…" Sasuke said, exhaling shakily, "My Body moved… of its own accord, idiot…"

"SASUKE!" I cried, as I watched him collapse backwards. Thankfully, Naruto caught him, so Sasuke was now laying in his arms.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out. I to, forgetting about my wound, scurried to his side. I could now see the amount of damage done. Three needles were stuck in his chest, were the heart was.

"That man…" he choked, "I didn't want to die until I killed my brother…"

Sasuke then noticed my tears, and lifted his hand to my face. Gently, he swiped a stray one away "Sorry Tomoko… looks like I'm gonna have to postpone our serious talk."

I grabbed his hand and held it in my own "Shut up! Stop talking like that!"

"You…" he said, directly at Naruto "look after her… and… don't die." I felt his grip loosen, and his body go limp.

"Sasuke…?" I asked, my voice wavering. But I got no answer, "Sasuke!?" I cried out, sounding more desperate. I ripped him from Naruto's embrace and brought him into my own. His chest wasn't moving, and the heat from his body was fading…

He was gone… Sasuke… was gone!

By now I was bawling my eyes out. I could no longer contain my anguish, desperately calling his name.

"Sasuke! Please! Wake up!" I whimpered. "Come back, you're my best friend! You have to come back!"

Slowly, I passed Sasuke's dead body back to Naruto, who embraced him like I did.

I could hear Haku slowly get to his feet, "He, was able to jump into a trap, to protect someone important. Even after you told him not to…" He was now standing up straight, recovered from Sasuke's block, "He's a ninja worthy of respect."

I slowly stood up, ignoring the shoots of pain in my stomach. "Is this the first time, you've seen a friend die?" he asked us, "that is the path of a ninja."

"Shut up!"

Haku became silence at my command, and watched me pull my last kunai knife from my hand.

I know this was a foolish mistake, but it has gotten to the point where I no longer cared. "I'LL KILL YOU!" I roared charging at him, I wanted to get my vengeance, for Sasuke… for my friend!

"Tomoko!?" Naruto yelled out in surprise.

I didn't get very far, as Haku shot forward, and stabbed three needles into my stomach so hard, his knuckles brushed the skin.

I became lost for words, as I vomited up blood and leaned against haku's broad chest. Gently, he placed his free hand behind my back to keep my balanced, and leant his head beside my ear.

"This will be a slow death" he told me "I'm sorry, but this is the only way it will be painless."

"TOMOKO!" Naruto screeched "NO! GET OFF OF HER! TOMOKO!"

Gently, Haku lowered me to the ground, like I was a dying lover and turned me to face Naruto, who was shaking violently.

"Naruto…" I puffed "I'm sorry, I got careless…"

"Tomoko…" he whispered shakily, realising there was nothing he could do. I watched as he placed his fallen teammate to the floor, "I hated you too" he told him.

steam from the wet floor swirled around him "and now… I can't keep Tomoko alive."

By now, Haku was back in his mirror. But my attention was on my teammate. An uneasy chill could be felt, something evil was coming… and it was coming from Naruto.

"You will pay…" I heard him hiss. The steam, all of a sudden, became a tornado of bright, blood orange chakra. The mass amount of energy that was radiating off him, was cutting through the concrete of the bridge as if it were fabric.

_'Naruto… That's… Naruto!?'_

I watch him lift up his head, no longer could I see his sweet, baby blue eyes. They has now been replaced with an angry red, his pupil like a wild cat's. His hair was more stuck out than normal, and his teeth slowly grew into canines.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

My eyes widened in horror, as I watched him body contort more violently, and his chakra got higher in power. The needles that had pierced his body, were slowly being pushed out. Was this really the same knuckle head, that always had a smile on his face? Was this the same boy who never let anything affect him?

Who was this person? And what did they do with Naruto?!

But what terrified me the most, was the form the chakra took above him. A giant head of a fox, staring down at me, baring his large, deadly teeth.

I wasn't sure what happened next, all I saw was Naruto whizz past me, directly at Haku. i would have turned my head to watch… but I was now too weak. Thankfully, I could see the reflections on the mirror. Naruto was relentless on his attack, almost like a wild animal. Haku tried his best offence and threw needles at him, stabbing him in the back. but they had no effect, as he used his chakra to push them out again. Naruto charged towards one of the mirrors, smashing it with his fist.

Everthing became a blur after that, but I think he managed to get a grip of Haku and punched him square in the face, sending him crashing through the mirrors, well away from where we were.

The mirrors cracked, and collapsed around me and Naruto disappeared from sight. All that remained was myself, and the dead body of Sasuke Uchiha.

I tried to move, but it only resulted in me coughing up more blood.

_'So this is it?' _I asked myself.

I stared up to the sky, remembering everyone close to me…

_'Haruo… looks like you won't have to watch over me anymore. Don't be sad, I knew the risks when I excepted to be a ninja in the first place…'_

I coughed up some more blood and began laughing, _'Mother, what's it like to be beside Mistuko side?'_

"No matter" I whispered, my sight beginning to darken "I'll be able to find out… for… myself."

My eyes fluttered closed, and darkness took me.


	25. Naruto Spills the Beans

**Boom! I'm on a roll!**

**Incredibly jumpy chapter, but bare with me!**

**xo **

* * *

_"Tomoko?"_

I could hear someone calling me in the distance, but I didn't pay much attention to them. I was lazing in a field of long golden grass, the plants tickled my skin. Laying flat on my back, I watched the bright, blue skies above me.

_"Tomoko? where are you?"_

I frowned as the voice continued to disturb my peace. Slowly I sat up and stretched my arms, yawning along the way. I looked around the area, all I could see was endless fields, sparkling in the sun. "I'm here!" I yelled back, rather annoyed.

I gazed at my lap, where my hands where resting. Blinking a couple of times, it was only now, I noticed that they were a lot smaller than I remember. I looked down at my body, to see I was now wearing a white, hand-made dress and no shoes. I was no longer thirteen, I was now four years of age.

Lifting my left hand up, I stared at it quizzically. Another thing I noticed, I was no longer wearing my vambrace, too be honest everything was a little strange. How did I even get here? I'd figured that I would remember.

_"Tomoko!?"_ A voice called again, but it just seemed to echo through my ears and fade away. Then, out of no where. A beautiful, white Pieridae butterfly landed on my left hand. It's snow-white wings flexed up and down, as if it was waving hello at me. I could feel its long, thin antennae's brush against me skin.

"Hello there" I greeted softly. The Butterfly seemed to react to my voice, as it turned itself around to look up at me, its antennae moving up and down. "Is this your home?" I asked it, "it's very pretty?"

The butterfly took flight, and gently landed on my nose, causing me to giggle. "Hey! That tickles!"

The butterfly flapped its wings again and remained hovering in front of me. Used my hands to push myself up to stand, the butterfly still in my company.

"Do.. you want to show me something?" I asked.

The butterfly circled around my head, I assumed it meant yes.

_"Sasuke-kun!"_

I paused my actions and looked around again, that voice… it wasn't the same from before. It was a young girl, maybe about thirteen years old, it was incredibly annoying.

_"No! They got Tomoko to!"_

How did this person know my name? And why did this… Sasuke sound so familiar?

_"I… I can't tell whether she's alive or not. There's so much blood."_

Now it was a voice of an elderly man, what is going on?

_"She… she's not moving… and Sasuke-Kun…"_

There was a long pause, till I heard slight sobbing.

_"You don't have to hold back just because I'm here, you should just cry at a time like this." _

"Hello?" I called, "is anyone there?"

The butterfly appeared in front of me again, and then fluttered off into another direction. not wanting to lose it, I hastily ran after it.

"Hey!" I shouted "don't leave me alone here!"

As I ran after it, images appeared around me. Some were of my family, others were of three people. Like scenes from a movie, they played out different moments of my life, and the people I met.

"Mother… Haruo" they smiling faces appeared before me.

_"SASUKE-KUN!" _the annoying girl's voice cried out. An image of a girl with pink hair flashed before me…

"Sak..ura…?"

Then another deep voice came into the mix, a young male's.

_"Sakura… that hurts."_

Now this voice was very familiar, but I could quite place it.

_"Don't move!" _the girl ordered. But it seemed this male… ignored her. _"Where's Naruto? and Tomoko? What happened to that masked guy?" _he asked.

_"Naruto is safe" _she replied, _"But… Tomoko..."_

Naruto… I know Naruto! But this wasn't his voice, his was high-pitched.

_"What about her? where is she Sakura?!" _The boy was now yelling.

I could hear the girl begin to sob again, and there was silence. Until the boy cried out in such misery, it broke my heart.

The butterfly suddenly stopped, making me do the same. It was then it showed me a scene of three people, one elderly man standing, a young pink haired girl crying into her hands, and a young, hansom boy, with raven black hair… cradling something in his arms.

I couldn't see at first, but soon I could see brown hair, and an limp arm hanging to the floor, wearing a metal vambrace.

"Wait… that's… me!"

_"I'm sorry…Tomoko" _the boy sobbed, _"I'm sorry for everything I said that hurt you, It was never my intention!"_

This boy… was crying over me. I knew this person… he was my friend… my best friend!

"Sasuke…?"

_"Please... just come back! You have to come back!"_

Sasuke was now lost for words, and conitined to embrace my body tightly, as if it were about to disappear.

Now, I had no desire to be here any longer… I wanted to stay with my friend. I was surprised that the butterfly was still around. "Please…" I begged at it "can I go back? I'll do anything please?"

But the insect began to fly away… fading out into the distance.

_**"Death, will not claim you this day, Mori Tomoko"**_

A bright light blinded my sight, then darkness.

* * *

The first thing I felt was warmth of another, then something cold landing on my face.

_'Snow?'_

"Kakashi-sensei? She… She…"

"Hush Sakura..." my sensei told her. I was still in the person's embrace, but I now felt two new fingertips pressed against my wrist.

There was a long pause, "She's alive…"

I felt the person jolt, "what?!"

So it was Sasuke still holding me, would it sound incredibly bitchy to say that I was surprised?

Probably.

"There's still a pulse, I don't know how or why. She's lost a ridiculous amount of blood, she really is one hell of a fighter." Kakashi commented.

"Sasuke… quit squeezing so hard!"

I managed to find my voice, which caused everyone to gasp around me. Slowly, my eyes began to flutter open. The sudden light stinging my eyes, then I was met with a pair of tear-filled caracole black.

"Tomoko-chan!" I heard Naruto yell gleefully, "I knew you'd be alright, I just knew it!"

I noticed there were a lot more people here now, maybe the whole village? Crowding around me. Watching me with relief… Sakura had now happy tears in her eyes, and Kakashi gave me a soft smile.

Tazuna looked like he'd been crying, but was now grinning, along with Inari.

"Wha… happened?" I managed to ask.

"Haku and Zabuza are dead, as well as Gatoh, our battle is over" Kakashi explained.

I let out a sigh of relief "Good, now I can…. I can…"

"Tomoko?" my sensei asked cautiously.

Sasuke, who had yet to say a word, stared down at me in a panic. "What's happening?! Kakashi!?"

Immediately Kakashi took me from him, things were becoming blurry again. My body became numb and my breathing harsh.

"She's going into some kind of septic shock" I heard him confirmed.

"W-what's that?" Sakura spluttered.

I felt my body being lifted up into a strong pair of arms, "Tazuna-san, we need antibiotics and a drip, if we treat her now, she might be able to make it."

"Might!?" Sasuke bellowed "What do you mean might!?"

"Sasuke, now isn't the time for anger" Kakashi told him, "focus on your own wounds, I'll look after her."

"This way" Tazuna told him, and immediately I felt Kakashi's fast paced foot steps.

"Hang on there Tomoko" he whispered.

The gentle rocking of Kakashi's body, lulled me into a sleep… and made me close my eyes again, my battle was over… now I could rest.

* * *

"It was a close call, but she's going to be alright" I heard an unfamiliar voice explain, "I also pulled the needles out of her stomach, thankfully there wasn't too much internal damage, but I suggest she goes straight to the hospital, as soon as you get back."

I heard the door close, sun rays hit my face, bringing comforting heat to my face.

After a couple of hours, I began to stir.

"What day is it?" I asked, slowly opening my eyes. I glanced to the left, seeing my sensei sitting on a chair, his book held open firmly in his hand.

"Oh, you're awake?" Kakashi mused, closing his book, "and its a Saturday."

I blinked a couple of times "Saturday?"

He placed his book on the side table, "you were in treatment for two days, none of us were aloud to see you."

I slowly began to push my upper body agains the headboard, "two days treatment for septic shock?"

"No" he answered simply. "There were more needles imbedded into your body than we thought, so we had to carefully take out what we can."

I cradled my forehead in my hand, which was heavily bandaged "What… happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"I remember Sasuke… Sasuke!?"

"Is perfectly fine" Kakashi cut in, "you clearly don't remember him when you woke up the first time."

"I remember… Naruto and Haku facing each other" I breathed, massaging my temple. "Naruto was… different…."

"Pain can play many tricks on the mind" Kakashi told me.

"I know what I saw!" I snapped, "At least I think I do..."

Kakashi leaned forward slightly "calm down, you are in no position to do anything drastic."

I relaxed slightly, Kakashi was intentionally dodging this particular matter.

"Do you remember me telling you about Haku and Zabuza?" he asked.

I nodded "yeah they died, how?"

"Haku sacrificed himself to save his master, I… ended up killing him."

My eyes widened "What? then how did Zabuza die!?"

Kakashi gazed downwards "Gatoh turned against him, and had his samurai attacked him. But Zabuza got to him first and killed first… Zabuza then died from his injuries, but he passed in peace."

I was silent for a moment, what more could be said? This was the life of a ninja. Hell… it nearly happened to me! Death is just another path, that is what Mistuko teaches us, but it is a path we can never come back from.

Suddenly, the door to my room swung open, "Tomoko-chan?"

There in the door, was the unmistakable orange wearing, blonde haired ninja.

"Tomoko-chan's awake!" Naruto exclaimed happily. He then ran towards my bed and jumped on it, sitting on the edge.

"Naruto careful!" Kakashi scold, but naruto paid no attention. Because he pulled me into a tight embrace, he was however, wary not to hold on to me too tight.

I smiled as I too began to wrap my arms around him, "I'm sorry Naruto, I was careless before. I worried you..."

He shook his head "don't be silly, I was the one that was suppose to protect you ya know?"

As we pulled away from our hug, Sakura came to the door way with eyes the size of saucers.

"Tomoko! I thought it was Naruto pulling a sick prank!" she stated running in as well, she was now standing next to Kakashi.

Naruto pulled a horrified expression "Sakura-chan! I could you think something like that?!"

"How couldn't she?" I joked.

By this time Naruto had mock tears in his eyes "not you to…"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh, but soon turned her attention back to me "I'm happy you're alright, you had us really worried."

Things became a little awkward, I wasn't really sure what to make of it at first. So to ease the tension, I shot her a smile and a nod, letting her know that I appreciated it.

I searched around the room for my finale team member, only he was no where to be seen.

_'Where is he?'_

"Sasuke will come in his own time" Kakashi whispered to me, Naruto and Sakura were too busy having a conversation to hear him.

I pulled a puzzled expression "what do you mean?"

"You both went through a lot, and both sustained a lot of damage" he explained. "He nearly lost his life, and then his teammate in a matter of minutes, give him time to mend."

I'll admit, I was a little upset that he wasn't here to see me, especially after everything we went through. But I did understand, a lot was on the line for us, and Naruto… speak of the devil.

"Naruto what happened to you're injuries?"

Everyone became silent, Kakashi threw me a disapproving look. Sakura just looked very confused, I'm not surprised, she didn't see what happened… but I did.

"Oh er… well… you've been out for a couple of days Tomoko-chan!" he told me with a nervous smile, "you know how fast I heal."

I gave him a suspicious stare, which made him very uncomfortable. He was a terrible liar, because he was never good at hiding his emotions.

"Alright! We should really let Tomoko rest" Kakashi cut in, standing up. He managed scurry Sakura out of the room, and Naruto followed behind… as least that's what I thought he was doing. But it seemed he changed his mind and remained standing in the doorway, his back facing me.

"Naruto?" I called "is everything alright?"

He didn't say anything, instead, looked down the corridor, and gently closed the door. He remained there for a while, as if he was trying to convince himself about something.

"Naruto…" I began "what happened with Haku? After Sasuke… er… got hurt."

No words from him. So I kept going.

"I saw… your chakra changed, and it took the form of a fox. Why did it do that?"

Once again, no response, so I tried a different approach.

"Do you remember when I told you about my village?" I asked.

Finally he turned to face me, and gave me a nod. "Well, not a lot of people know about that" I carefully explained. "I mean, its not like its a kept secret among the village. But… I'm not singing to the winds about it you know?"

Naruto began pacing slow lying, scratching the back of his head.

"Only two people my age know the details of why I'm here, because I don't particularly like talking about it. But I trusted you enough to tell you, even though its really hard for my to open up about."

I couldn't help but laugh slightly "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I trust you enough to tell you my secret. If something is troubling you, you can tell me, you know that right?"

"It's not that simple" he finally spoke.

I raised an eyebrow "it's not that simple, or are you not making it that simple?"

He nervously glanced out the window, "I can't talk about it… at least not here!"

I turned my head to the door, then at the window "then lets get out of here!"

"Wha?" Was all he could say, as I threw over my bed covers and swung my legs to the side. "Whoah hang on a second! You can't do that!" He cried.

I shot him an amused look, "are you seriously gonna lecture me on this?" A smile crept upon his face, "You? The number one prankster in the village!?"

He was laughing now, clearly realising that he held no argument, in stopping me from leaving this room. Being wary of my stomach, I slowly walked across the room, towards the window. Pushing it opened, I poked my head put to check if the coast was clear.

"We can sit on the pier" I stated and went to climb out, but a sharp pain shot up into my stomach, halting my movement.

"Er… maybe I should go first?" Naruto suggested. I nodded agreeing, and stepped back to let him through. Effortlessly he jumped out and turned back to me, holding his hand out.

Grasping it, he helped me out and proceeded to help me walk to the pier. We sat on the edge, staring into the blue lake. We remained quiet for a short while, taking the time to enjoy the scenery.

Finally, Naruto began to talk.

"There's a reason why all the grown ups treat me so badly" he told me, "but I only found out why just recently."

And that's what began Naruto to spill his heart out. First, it was him telling me how a nine tailed demon fox, the Kyuubi, attacked the village twelve years ago. I of course knew about this, even though I wasn't living in the village at the time. But you had to be living under a rock, if you never heard about this tragedy of the Fourth Hokage sacrificing himself, the protect his people.

"So… what's that got to do with you?" I quizzed.

He took a breath, "when I.. failed the Genin exam, Mizuki-sensei told me about this forbidden scroll, and inside it was a technique that if I could learn it, I would be able to graduate."

I scratched my temple "and you stole it" I stated, more than asked.

Naruto smiled slightly "it wasn't one of my greatest moments."

I shook my head back and forth in a jokey manner, "no but, mistakes happen. So what happened after that?"

"I was able to learn one technique, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?"

I raised my eyebrow "the clone jutsu you always use?"

_'That's forbidden?'_

Naruto nodded, "Suddenly, Mizuki-sensei turned up and demanded me to hand over the scroll. Then Iruka-sensei showed up and told me that Mizuki was using me to get the scroll for himself." His eyes suddenly started shifting all over the area, and becoming very nervous, "When I wouldn't hand over the scroll, Mizuki-sensei then told me there was a law, that the Hokage made after the nine tails' attack. It was a law everyone knew, but me."

_'A law?'_

Naruto took a breath, as if he was ready to give me the final blow. "The law was, that no one could me tell that the Kyuubi, the nine tails fox, that had nearly destroyed our whole village… is sealed inside of me."

I couldn't help but gasp, and cover my mouth with my hand. I always thought that the Fourth died after defeated the Kyuubi, but passing away after sealing it inside someone? And the container, was Naruto. The same boy struggled so much in the academy, yet always had a smile on his face, despite the isolation and the teasing. How could this gentle person, carry a demon inside of him.

The graduation was two months ago, so he's not long known about it himself, yet he's continued to be the same goofy knucklehead. How someone could deal with all that, was amazing to me. He must have gone through so much pain, learning that dreadful truth. Yhe thought of me and Sasuke dying, was too much for him, and that's what caused him to snap, losing control of the Kyuubi.

"So…"

His voice brought me out of my thoughts, even though it was a whisper, it seemed to echo in my ears.

"Do… you hate me now, Tomoko?" He held his gaze firmly on the water, as if he was bracing himself for something negative, that was going to be thrown at him.

I blinked at him a couple of times, he thought I hated him?

"Where'd you get that impression?" I asked giggling slightly.

Naruto looked up at me in surprised, "what do you mean?"

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing, so much it shot pains into my stomach, but I didn't care. Nothing could dampen my amusement.

"What?!" he demanded, thinking I was laughing at him.

But I only got worse, which became infectious, as he soon joined in.

Finally we calmed down, and I placed a hand on his shoulder. "The Kyuubi is a very dark part of the village's history, and I'll admit, you did scare me."

Naruto once again looked down, so I gave his shoulder a soft shake, to make I'm look at me again.

"But I know that you didn't choose this to happen, and that you would neverintentionally let the demon out." I paused so I could take a small breath, "you thought me and Sasuke had died, your mind wasn't in the right state. Naruto, I could never hate you for having the Kyuubi inside of you, because I know that there's more to you than just some kid carrying a very cranky fox."

Naruto chuckled and stared back out to the water with a smile on his face, "You know? I never planned on telling anyone."

I removed my hand from his shoulder and to, stared into the lake "its a heavy burden to bare, you would've have gone mad."

"Thank you…" he said in an honestly tone, "I've never had someone in my life as understanding as you."

I grinned, I couldn't resist leaning forward, and placing a quick peck on his cheek. I retreated just as fast, and I had never seen Naruto turn so red.

"Come on" I said "we better get back before we get caught."

"Too late…"

Me and Naruto jumped in surprise at the new presence behind us.

"Ahhh Sasuke!" Naruto shrieked and stood up suddenl,y with his hands held in a defence notion. "It's… not what it looks like!"

"What are you talking about dope?" Sasuke asked in an irritated tone.

"Ah… nothing!" The other boy replied anxiously.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to me "you're suppose to be resting."

I shrugged "I wanted some fresh air, and I asked Naruto to keep me company, no harm done."

Sasuke stared upwards "yes, excepted that doctors have ordered you to remain in bed, and that moving around can reopen your wounds, because this place doesn't have the medical care to fully treat you."

I shot a quick look at Naruto, then back at mister grumpy, "Alright I'm sorry, I'll go back to bed!"

But Sasuke didn't believe me, as he stormed over, and pulled me by my to stand up.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!?"

But I didn't get a verbal answer. iIstead, he picked me up bridle style, and started walking back to the house.

I didn't make it easy though.

"Put me down! Right now!" I exclaimed, throwing a few punches on his chest. Sasuke did well not to drop me, since I was hitting him pretty hard! In any right human mind, this is a terrible idea, considering my stomach was barely keeping itself together, and I was suppose to be in bed.

So I didn't really think this through, but I was pissed off god damn it! Who the hell does he think he is!? storming in and just snatching me away.

I'm injured! not dying!

"What's going on out here?!" Kakashi demanded stepping out of the house, Sakura in tow, only to be completely taken back, at the sight of Sasuke carrying me back in down the hallway, with me kicking and screaming all the way.

"Sasuke-kun?!" she gasped.

"SASUKE! IF YOU DON'T PUT ME DOWN! I'M GONNA SHOVE YOU IN A MEAT GRINDER AND FEED YOUR BODY PARTS TO KAKASHI'S DOGS!"

Not the most charming thing to come out of my mouth, but like I said... I was pissed off!

"Naruto what's going on?" I heard Sakura ask.

"Sasuke just picked her up" was all he replied.

Soon followed a hard slam from my bedroom door, leaving me and him, completely alone.


	26. What are friends for?

Sasuke placed me gently back down on the bed.

"Right…" he began "now that you're settled-"

I didn't hesitated giving him a stock in the jaw, which caused him to stumble back slightly.

"OW!" He cried, cradling his mouth "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

My hand ached slightly, but that didn't hold back my fury, "what was for being a jerk!"

Sasuke moved his bottom jaw too, and fro. I watched his movements, the scold on his face, and the annoyance in eyes. My anger slowly melting away, the fact that he was standing in front of me, making me realise… Sasuke is actually alive.

I couldn't believe it! Even though Kakashi had told me he was fine. Actually seeing him, made my heart swell so much in happiness and relief. I tried to hold back the tears in my eyes...

"Damn, you still know how to throw a decent hook" he commented begrudgingly, "remain me never to annoy you, ever, again…"

I couldn't hold them back any longer, tears were now streaming freely down my cheeks. I used my hands to hide my face… suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oy…" spoke Sasuke awkwardly, "Look, it didn't hurt that bad… I… er…" It seemed my crying made him a little uncomfortable, because he didn't understand why I was in the first place. I can't blame him really, I went from a fit of rage, to punching him in the jaw, to crying my eyes out.

Yep! First degree head fuck, right here!

He carefully made his way back to me, and hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder. I jolted slightly from the contact, I wasn't expecting him to come anywhere near me.

"I… deserved the punch…" he told me "I'm not mad at you."

"That's not why I'm crying!" I snapped shakily. Before he could respond, I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. His movement stiffened at my embrace, he wasn't particularly a big fan of human touch, even when he was a kid. But I couldn't help myself, seeing him alive and healthy made me so gratified.

"You're actually here!" I whimpered. "I know Kakashi told me that you didn't die, and that you didn't suffer any serious damage. But I didn't… I didn't…"

I couldn't find the words anymore, and continued to sobbing into his chest. Sasuke finally relaxed, not much, but it was enough to assure me that he was gonna shove me away and give me the cold shoulder. Eventually, I let go of him and began to wipe my tears away.

"How?" I asked gasping, "your body went cold! You were gone!"

Sasuke's expression was hard to read, as he dusted off his shirt. There was a time were I could understand him so well, but now, I wasn't sure if I ever would again.

Eventually he answered, "remember that false kill he did with Zabuza? Well, it appears he did it to me. I don't think he ever intended to kill us."

I tried to work out in my head as to why. Why? Why was he willing to defy his masters orders?

_**"It's a shame, you are quite beautiful."**_

_**"I wish you didn't get involved."**_

_**"Forgive me."**_

_**"I'm sorry, but this is the only way it will be painless."**_

"I don't get it, if he was not trying to kill you, why was he attempting to kill me?" I questioned.

Sasuke hummed under his breath. "You're still here aren't you?" he stated, "I think if he truly wanted to kill you, he would have done so straight away."

He made a good point, Haku was ordered to take me out first. Yet, he made the process slow and painful. In some twisted way, that was him showing mercy.

Another awkward silence followed. It was just me and him, and we both knew that we had to talk sooner or later. The question was… who would have to courage to start.

"You scared me to you know."

Wow… looks like Sasuke is taking the bull by its horns.

I looked up at him surprised, he was now staring out the window. So, he wasn't gonna look at me. Fair enough, I kinda saw this as a blessing, it was ridiculously uncomfortable already.

"Seeing you just laying there, was the one of the worst things I've ever seen." He sighed, "It reminded me…" he stopped abruptly, as if he was struggling with his words. "It reminded me…"

"Stop" I softly interrupted, "you don't have to say it."

Looks like he still found the massacre hard to talk about.

Sasuke shook his head, "I know, I want to be able to talk to you about it. But its still…"

"A fresh wound, I know" I reassured. "Beside, I already know the basics of what happened, I'm not really sure if I'm ready to hear the details."

Sasuke sight still remained on the window, but was he now leaned against the wall near the bedroom door, with his arms crossed. "Tomoko…" He began with a sigh. "I'm not great at apologies, not anymore. But, I'll try. I regret saying those things to you."

"I know" I said, which made him mad.

"Just listen for a second" he cut in harshly, "once I'm done, you can talk my ear off all you want, if need be."

I pressed my lips together, but remained quiet for him to continue.

"This isn't me trying to make excuses for myself, but I was in a very dark place, I… I still am" Once again he paused. "I can never be what I was when we were kids, nor will I ever give up my revenge."

I smiled and shook my head, "I'm not expecting you to give up your revenge" I told him. "And yes, you've changed quite a bit since we were younger, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Sasuke finally looked at me, his expression softened "I'm not good with this friendship thing, not anymore."

"And I was when you met me?" I asked in a jokey manner. "Sasuke, you pulled me out of one of the most difficult time of my life. Because of you I was able to cope with my mother's death." I took a breath, "you and your clan became my family, and you were always there for me."

I then stood back up and walked over to him, immediately he straightened up and uncrossed his arms. He watched me with an unsure expression, making him seem so vulnerable. When I got close enough, I held my hand to him. His eyes widened, because he knew I was repeating how he greeted me, the first time we met.

"Let me do the same for you…" I suggested.

He look at my hand, then back to me.

I sighed with a kind expression, "I can't promise that I can take the pain away completely. But I can make things easier… You don't need to face this alone."

A slight smirk crept upon his features, but this wasn't his usual, cocky, arrogant one. This one seemed content, and dare I say happy. Carefully, he took my hand and gave it a small shake.

I couldn't help but grin like a fool. Even though we still had a long way to go, I was happy to have him back.

"AAHHH!"

The door crashed open, making me and Sasuke jump from the sudden noise. Now on the floor, was both Naruto and Sakura, looking slightly disoriented.

"Naruto!" Sakura scold grabbing him in a choke hold "I told you not to lean so much on the door!"

"Ach! Tomoko-chan" he choked "Help me!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, whilst couldn't contain my laughter. Things seemed like they were finally coming together.

* * *

It had been about a week since our battle with Zabuza and Haku on the bridge. My injures were much better but I still wasn't a hundred percent, I was still bed ridden and going stark crazy!

Thankfully, my teammates kept me company, and occasionally help me get my strength back by walking.

It was now the early hours of the morning, of the day we would go home. As I was putting my clothes on, for what felt like the first time in ages. A knock came to me door.

"Hang on a second!" I called pulling my cut off pants on, after becoming fully clothed, I called for the person to come in.

The door opened, "are you sure that's wise? I distinctly remember doctors saying no straining movements."

I looked up to see Sasuke standing there, obviously not amused.

Turning my back to him, I grabbed my waist coat and proceeded to pull my arms through. "I'm much better than last week, besides, the bridge is finally finished, we'll be going home today! There is no way I'm having anyone carry me back!"

Sasuke watched me as I tied my front knot, then gazed at my stomach, which still heavily bandaged. Since our talk, Sasuke had become, a little over protective? It was a little annoying, but his heart was in the right place.

"I wasn't gonna try and stop you" he informed me, "I actually came to give you these back."

I turned to face him again, to see what he was on about, and what he was holding up in his right hand.

"My Vambrace!" I cheered slightly, and took them back, "how did you?"

"I grabbed them whilst you were in treatment. I figured you wouldn't want to deal with Kakashi if he got his hands on them again" he explained calmly.

I raised an eyebrow "so you weren't curious on what they are, at all?"

Sasuke pulled a slight baffled look "N-no!"

I rolled my eyes "because that's convincing, did you get very far?"

Sasuke's eye twitched, obviously realising he had been caught.

"No" he answered "but that was only part the reason, honest! I got an earful from Kakashi when I stole them."

Well at least he was being truthful.

I nodded my head in thanks and packed them in my backpack.

"Oh and another thing" spoke Sasuke, "Kakashi wants us to pay our respects to Haku and Zabuza before we leave."

"When?"

Sasuke shot a look out the window, "Now."

I followed his gaze, to see the sky had already begun to turn pink. "We best get going then" I announced and walked out the room. Sasuke followed not far behind and we headed to the front door, already there was the rest of our team.

"Are you sure you're well enough to walk?" my Sensei asked me.

"I don't have much of a choice."

Kakashi gave me a strict look, maybe I should rephrase my answer.

I cleared my throat, "I'll be fine Sensei, really. But the doctor still thinks I should get a check up as soon as we get back."

Nothing else was said on the matter, and we all left the house. The graves weren't far, the we're both perched on a hilltop, looking out to the sea and newly built bridge.

Both graves were made of wood, symbolising a cross. Behind it, Zabuza's sword was stuck in the ground, whilst Haku's had his sash wrapped it. The sun was now raising higher, but still just touching the ocean, making it a golden/pink colour. The sound of the waves sang in my ears, creating a peaceful sensation. Sakura had taken the time to create a ring of flowers for the graves, and began hanging them across.

"I was wondering, Kakashi-sensei" said Sakura, as she finished placing the last flowers over Haku's grave.

Kakashi hummed to let her know he heard her.

"Does a ninja really have to be the way they said a ninja should be?" She asked solemnly. Naruto had now stepped closer, he was standing in the middle of the graves, just in front. Myself, Kakashi and Sasuke stayed back.

"Ninja are not supposed to seek their reason to exist" Kakashi clarified, as Sakura was walking back to us. "It's important that they exist as a tool. That idea exists in Konoha, too."

Naruto turned his head to our Sensei. "Does becoming a real ninja really mean that?" He now turned to face us, "I… Kind of… don't like that."

"I come from the most strictest country on this earth" I commented, "but even I find that a little harsh."

Sasuke lifted his head slightly "Do you think so, too?" he asked directly to Kakashi.

Kakashi hummed in thought, "Well no. That's why ninja unconsciously suffer from that idea" he answered truthfully, "Like Zabuza, and that boy."

"It's only gonna get harder from here isn't it?" I drawled sadly.

"I'm afraid so" Kakashi confirmed. We all fell silence, only the sound of the waves could be heard.

"All right!"

Everyone hummed in surprised at Naruto's sudden outburst.

He looked up to the sky, grinning. "I've decided! I'm going to follow my own, 'Way of the Ninja'. I'm going to run straight down the path, where I'm not going to regret anything!"

I couldn't help but smile _'own way of the ninja huh?' _I thought, and glanced at Sasuke. He to, glimpsed back, the corner of his mouth rising in a small smirk.

_'I guess you're right Naruto, my path will be with my friends… my team.'_

* * *

later that day, we we're now bidding goodbye to the villagers at the bridge. No, literary, the whole village was here to say goodbye. But I guess we really changed their lives for the better, and it made me feel good about the path I was taking. I enjoyed helping people, I always had. And being a ninja enabled me to do that.

"We've completed the bridge thanks to you" Tazuna spoke, "but we are going to miss you."

"Be well" Tusami told us.

"Thank you for everything" Kakashi told them

Naruto grinned "Now, now old man Tazuna, we'll visit you again one day."

"promise?" Inari sniffed, trying to hold back his tears.

Naruto gave him a surprised look, then too began to get teary eyed. "Inari… You're going to get lonely, aren't you?" I gave him an amused look, this was actually happening.

"You can cry, you know. Cry…" he told the little boy.

"I'm not going to cry!" Inari argued "you can cry, too, Naruto."

"Yeah Naruto, go ahead and cry" I teased. There was no way in hell, I was gonna let him live this down.

they both just stared at each other, trying there damn hardest not to crack, and it was hilarious!

"see ya!" Naruto cried, and Abruptly turned around, clearly not wanting Inari to see him cry. I shook my head at their silliness and faced the crowd once again. Everyone else in my team began walking, but I lingered a little longer.

Sasuke, realised my absent and waited for me.

placing my left hand over my right shoulder, I gave them a blessing.

"Bearf sé fréo Mistuko, ládmann þín eftsíð æt éadnes."

Tazuna blinked a couple of times, but then nodded in appreciation.

I hurried meet back up with Sasuke, and then we both caught up with the others, and walked along side them.

"All right!" Naruto cheered, "Once I get home, I'm going to have Iruka-sensei treat me to ramen, to celebrate the completion of this mission."

I laughed "I bet it was driving you stir crazy not having any, right Naruto?"

"You bet!" he answered, "Also, I'm going to make Konohamaru listen to my tale of bravery."

"Hey, Sasuke-kun" Sakura piped in, "do you want to go on a date once we return to the village?"

I choked on my breath slightly, that was a bold move!

"No, I decline" he emotionlessly answered, making me pierce my lips together nervously. I figured it was best I didn't say anything.

Sakura stopped walking, looking so defeated.

"Hey" whispered Naruto, stopping with her "Hey, I will!"

I didn't see what happened, I did however, someone grabbing the other, shaking them in the air, as well as Sakura screaming at him to shut up.

"By the way Tomoko" Kakashi spoke, "what did you just say to the villagers?"

I was about to answer, but someone already beat me to it.

"It was something along the lines 'May Mistuko give you peace', right?" Sasuke answered.

I nodded, which left Kakashi baffled.

"I didn't know you understood Yamakureism?" he stated to his student.

Sasuke shrugged, "I had a good teacher."

I blushed slightly, knowing it was me that taught him. Yes, I was very much looking forward to going home.

"Oh Tomoko, I sent a pigeon to Konoha about your hospital treatment. Everything should be in order when you get back."

"Okay" I replied nodding, but Kakashi wasn't done.

"Er, another thing… well… it seems that… your brother caught wind of it…"

Sasuke threw me a 'oh dear god!' look.

Yeah, so you know that excitement I was feeling earlier? Well… lets just say that it's now completely vanished.

* * *

"We need to stop" I huffed, and leaned my upper body over slightly. Sasuke stayed by my side the whole time, but didn't say a word. The rest was just two steps ahead of us.

Kakashi looked at me concerned as I gripped my stomach, which clearly showed I was in a bit of pain.

"Oh come one" Sakura groaned, "we're almost home!"

I glared at her, this was about my fourth time I had to stop. Every now and then, I'd get these incredibly nasty shots of pain into my stomach. The pain would fade after a couple of seconds, but this was different.

"I'm sorry…" I heaved "it just… gets worse with each step. I think…"

My Sensei sighed. "I feared this would happen" he commented "alright, Sasuke, carry her on your back the rest of the way."

"What! no!" I snapped, but caught myself, that came out a little wrong. "I mean… I'll be alright, honest."

"The village isn't far, would it really be bad for you to be carried?" Kakashi challenged.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't hold an argument. Defeated, I grumbled fine as Sasuke leaned on his knees so I could climb on his back.

"Hey! Hey!" Naruto yelled "I wanna carry Tomoko-chan!"

Sasuke stood up holding my legs tightly, my arms wrapped around his neck.

"You're too small to carry her dope" Sasuke commented, leaving Naruto fuming.

"Are you sure this is okay?" I whispered.

Sasuke closed his eyes "don't worry about me."

We set off again. Like Kakashi said, it didn't take us long to arrive back home. I was then reminded of what was waiting for me…

"Is this the only entrance to the village?" I asked randomly.

Sakura gave me a very confused look "why would there be any more?"

"Oh I don't know, some people may have a very over protective brother waiting for them, who has a reputation of over reacting."

Sakura giggled "oh come on, he can't be that bad!"

"TOMOKO!"

I immediately hid my face in Sasuke's back "put me down."

"What?"

"Put me down now!" I hissed. Straight away, he placed me back on my feet. But it wasn't for long, as I was grabbed and held just above the ground. I was met with a very familiar forest green eyes.

"WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU SERIOUSLY INJURING YOURSELF!? I THOUGHT YOU WERE ON A C-RANK MISSION!"

There was no way I was telling him the truth, otherwise he would seriously flip out.

"It seemed that the client lied to us."

Thanks Sensei, you have no I idea what you've unleashed.

"LIED?!" Haruo bellowed "THAT BASTARD PUT MY SISTER IN DANGER!"

"Haruo calm down!" I barked "the man was poor, he had no choice!"

"I DON'T CARE!" He shot back.

Everyone one watched in utter shock as my brother continued his rant, it was along the lines of never doing a C-rank again and making sure the mission was legit.

"Okay Aaron, I get it! Now can you please put me down!" I sneered.

Haruo blinked a couple of times, realising all my teammates were watching.

"Oh my!" he chirped dropping me suddenly, since I wasn't expecting it, I crashed down on the floor. "How embarrassing, I hope you don't think I'm some raving lunatic" he confessed, as he scratched the back of his head nervously, and laughed.

"Oh no, where would they get that impression?" I asked sarcastically rubbing my back, that was not a soft landing.

Sakura chuckled apprehensively "I'm Sakura, that's Naruto and…"

"I know who he is" Haruo cut in sternly, which caused me to throw him a warning look.

"Oh of course you do!" Sakura chirped "how could I forget?"

"Oh its pretty easy, after all, he was a total jerk to-"

"And that's enough!" I interrupted, jumping up and clasping my hand over his mouth. "My, dear Aaron? You were about to take me to the hospital, right?"

"I'll come with you…" Sasuke began, but shut up as soon as I threw him a **'Don't-even-think-about-it!'** glare.

I grabbed Haruo's hand and proceeded to drag him away "come on! The sooner we get there, the quicker I can get you up to speed."

All my teammates could do was stare, slightly terrified, as I disappeared from sight.

"Brothers are scary..." Naruto mumbled.


	27. Tension

_**"I'm scared..."**_

_Not again, whose voice is this, and what do they want from me!?_

_I opened my eyes, finding myself standing in a familiar golden field, but it was the same as the dreams I had before. The crops around me were shrivelled and wilted. the ground was dry and dead, and the sky was a miserable shade of grey._

_**"I'm scared… I'm scared…"**_

_I hastily looked around, as this voice continued to echo in my ears._

_**"She passes all the tests, we must prepare her." **__A strong masculine voice spoke._

_**"No!" **__a female cried __**"She's too young! I will not let you take her!"**_

_What is going on?!_

_**"Your love is clouding your judgement! This must be done!"**_

_Suddenly, the clouds darkened around me, the crops disappeared and I was surrounded by a battle field. There was so much blood and death, it made me feel sick._

_**"I'm scared… I'm scared… I'm scared…"**_

_I took a step backwards, only to run into something. Turning around shaking, I saw her again, the woman covered in blood, staring down in fear._

* * *

I shot up from my bed, my chest heaving deeply. I scanned, the sun shone through my window, hurting my eyes.

I massaged my temple "it was just a dream, just a dream."

My alarm began to ring, telling me to start getting ready for the day. Sighing, I climbed out of bed and left the bedroom, making my way down to the kitchen. I was surprised not seeing Haruo there, maybe he was still asleep. I quickly poured myself some fruit juice and cooked some toast. once eaten, I went back upstairs to shower and get dressed.

Once ready, I made my way back downstairs, tying on my vambrace as I moved. By now Haruo had woken up, but he wasn't alone.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Sasuke, as he leaned against the kitchen wall. My brother, was sat down by our dinning table, a cup of coffee in his hand and eyes closed. I couldn't help but let a wet drop form on the back of my head.

Even though I had explained everything to Haruo about Sasuke, he was still excessively hostile towards him. No matter how hard I tried, he wasn't willing to forgive Sasuke for what he did to me.

"Yeah" I answered, attempting to defuse the tension, "lets go."

I said goodbye to Haruo, who just nodded, and left the house with Sasuke. Together we walked down the street, I couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You know, you could have helped me out back there" I told him crossly.

Sasuke made his 'ahem' noise, "he's the one with the problem, not me."

I restrained myself from pulling my hair out. "Urgh that's not the right attitude to have when it comes to my brother!" I snapped "seriously! You two have to learn to get along! Please! At least to it for my sanity!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes "alright, no need to get so dramatic. I'll try and be civil but he's gonna be a two way deal."

Once again I felt a wet drop on the back of my head "what do you think I'm trying do..."

"Sasuke-kun! Tomoko!"

We looked behind us to see Sakura running towards us. Once see caught up, she immediately started fawning over Sasuke, typical Sakura.

But typical Sasuke, just ignored her and brushed her off "come on, we don't want to be late meeting Kakashi."

As he began to walk away, myself and Sakura lingered. only she had her head hung low in disappointment.

"It's like he's completely immune to any form of attraction" she grumbled.

Rolling my eyes I placed my hand on her shoulder "come on, you still have the whole day ahead of you to get his attention."

Eventually, we made it to the bridge were we'd meet our sensei. Sasuke leaned against the banster, with me standing just in front of him, and Sakura stood couple of steps away on Sasuke's right, with her arms crossed.

We remained like that for a while, until Naruto turned up.

"Good morning Sakura-chan! Tomoko-chan!" he greeted heartily. But his gazed turned to the other male of our group, making everything stupidly awkward. You would have thought after nearly dying, they'd put their petty fighting to rest? Well unfortunately, it only seemed to get worse, and me and Sakura were caught in the middle.

We both attempted to smooth things over between them, but it only to made matters worse. So we came to an agreement just to leave them to it.

Both boys gave each other a heated glare, making me and my female teammate very uncomfortable. Eventually the two of them turned away from each other in a huff, making Sakura slouch in frustration.

Slowly I made my way next to her, "this is getting ridiculous" I heard her mumble.

I nodded in agreement "the sooner Kakashi-sensei gets here, the better."

That was wishful thinking, because we all knew our sensei wouldn't show up on time. After an hour waiting, making us more irritated as the minutes went by, he finally arrived.

"Hello everybody" he greeted warmly from the arch of the bridge, "Good morning!"

Both Sakura and Naruto glared at him, whilst me and Sasuke remained where we were.

"I got lost today," Sensei explained "So…"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Both Naruto and Sakura cut in angrily.

I shook my head "seriously sensei, you're excuses are getting worse everyday."

Kakashi jumped down to join us, scratching his head nervously "ah… is that so?"

"Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto beamed "We, the 7th squad, have been only doing easy missions, right?"

Kakashi held his hands out to try and calm him down from his excitement, but that didn't hold naruto back.

"Isn't there a mission where I can play an active role, and something that's more…" by now he had fire burning in his eyes "Exciting?"

Kakashi had to take a slight step back "Oh I see, I see. I see what you're trying to get at."

Naruto immediately turned around to stare at sasuke once more, with a very intense gaze. Sasuke, didn't seemed fazed by it. It was obvious that Naruto wanted to show his skills off in front of Sasuke… however…

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news here" I piped in "but you're forgetting one little thing."

"huh?" Naruto breathed "what's that?"

I groaned "my brother, he superficially asked the Kokage and Kakashi-sensei to put us on D-rank missions only."

Naruto looked down defeated "Oh yeah…"

That's right, Haruo was hell bent on my safety ever since the last mission. So before we could even consider taking on a C-rank, he would swoop in and take it away from us. He was giving Kakashi a hard time to, saying that he should have known better, blah blah blah!

My brother had always been protective over me. But lately, it was more extreme than usual. So as you can imagine, he isn't the most popular guy with my teammates at the moment.

"Oy Naruto, Tomoko, what are you doing? We have a mission." Kakashi called.

I shook my head to see he, Sakura and Sasuke had already began leaving, and I guess I was caught in my thought's too deep.

"Roger!" Naruto shouted and ran to catch up. I took my time, not really having the energy to run around today.

"You're noisy" Sakura complained and continued walking. I caught up soon enough and followed everyone to our first mission, which was pulling weeds our of a garden.

All four of us went in different corners of the garden and slowly pulled the weeds out, I didn't mind this job so much, it reminded me of our own garden back in Yamakure. Suddenly, I felt a load of Weeds falling on my head, causing me to turn around.

My eyes widened in horror, as Naruto pulled out anything he could find, including the flowers. By now there was a huge pile of grass, weeds and flowers behind him.

Naruto, chuckled in pride.

"Hey you…"

Naruto turned to the side to see the owner looking at him crossly with her hands on her hips.

"Miss, I'm down pulling out all the weeds!" Naruto informed her in a cheery tone. But the woman seemed to be trying to contain her anger.

"Huh? What's wrong?" he asked, not realising what he's done.

"Naruto…" I whispered through my teeth "those weren't weeds."

"Huh?"

"Those are herbs that I've been cultivating!" the woman snapped, she didn't hesitate on the punches.

I turned to the others "shouldn't we help him?"

Kakashi shook his head "he has to suffer the consequences."

Naruto was sporting a decent black eye after that, but it only went bad to worse for him. When we were cleaning litter out of the river, he had managed to get taken away by the current, and had to be saved by Sasuke before he fell down a waterfall.

Yep, he really loved that one.

But the worst by far was the dog walking. Naruto being Naruto, had to go and pick the biggest dog. Not taking into account that it was ten times stronger than him.

"Hey!" he ordered "don't go that way."

But the dog paid no attention and continued to drag him across the field, a trap field.

"Hey!" he stressed "come on!"

Since he refused help from anyone, all the rest of us could do was just watch. Sakura and Sasuke had the two other dogs, who calmly stayed at their side. Kakashi, was reading his book in a tree.

"That idiot" Sasuke stated.

Sakura sighed "that's what happens for choosing the big dog."

I didn't say anything, because I knew they were both right. It didn't take long for him to set off every trap there, making us all stare in amazement… Only Naruto!

After a while, we found him completely fried, and the dog unaffected.

"The dog just doesn't listen to me" he moaned.

I walked towards him slightly and patted my hand on my thigh, "come here boy!" I called with a whistle.

The dog immediately ran over and jumped over me, making my fall on my back.

"Hey!" I said,, but was soon cut off from the dog licking my face. "S-stop that!" I giggled "that tickles!" The dog finally stepped back, but wagged his tail as I sat back up.

"That reminds me" Sakura spoke "how is Kinnosuke doing?"

A long, awkward silence followed, I noticed Sasuke throwing her a very furious glare.

I patted the dog on the head before standing up again, "he passed in his sleep two days ago."

"Oh" Sakura gasped "I'm so sorry Tomoko."

Sasuke kept a watchful eye on me, not really expecting what I was gonna do next.

I smiled sadly at her "Thanks, but I'm honestly alright" I paused. "We got to spend some time with him before he passed on, I'm content."

"We?" Sakura repeated, but was interrupted by Sasuke.

"Don't mention him again" he warned, "she may be all smiles, but she's only just started to cope with it. So don't talk about it for now."

Sakura didn't say another word about it after that, which I was thankful for. Sasuke understood my feelings on the subject, hell he even came with me on my last visit. Thanks to him, getting over Kinnosuke became that much easier.

"Come on then!" Kakashi said "Sakura, Sasuke help Naruto walk. Me and Tomoko will take the dogs." As both small dogs were passed to me, I suddenly sensed something up in that tree.

"Huh?" I turned around to see nothing there.

_'That was weird.'_

"Tomoko come on!"

I whistled for the dogs to walk, but couldn't shake the feeling like I was being watched.

* * *

"This is what you get for being reckless" Sakura lectured. We had long dropped the dogs back to their owner, but Naruto still needed help moving.

"Ahem, You're a guy that needs help all the time" Sasuke stated arrogantly.

Naruto wriggled his way out of there grasp and shook with anger, oh boy…

"SASUKE!" he screeched going for him, thankfully, Sakura had the sense to stop him.

"If you're going to go wild, I'm going to finish you off!" she threatened.

"Oy Sasuke!" I hollered "this is getting stupid! Don't just walk away!"

"Hm..." I heard Kakashi muse "the teamwork is out of order lately."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed childishly "and you're the one who disrupts our teamwork, Sasuke! You always stick your nose into everything!"

I gave him an unamused look, "says the guy who always goes off and tries to do things by himself."

He shot me an annoyed look, "whose side are you on anyway Tomoko!"

"SINCE WHEN DID I HAVE TO CHOOSE A SIDE!?" I demanded, scaring him slightly.

"If you don't want to owe me anything…" Sasuke shot back, finally stopping. He turned around with a serious expression, "become stronger than me."

Naruto gulped slightly, but held his hard stare with Sasuke's. Sakura fisted her hands up nervously, whilst I placed my hand to cover my face.

_'Great, now its worse than ever!'_

"Now then…" Kakashi spoke, easing the tension. "Shall we call it quits for today? I have to go submit the mission report now."

"I think that's a good idea" I agreed removing my hand.

"Then I'm going home" Sasuke announced and began to walk off.

Sakura let of a breath "Hey! Sasuke-kun, wait!" she called chasing him. Naruto went to try and stop her, but it was a failed attempt. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew what was gonna happen.

"If you have time to mind me" I heard him say, "go practice a technique or two. To be honest, your abilities are lower than Naruto's."

I covered my mouth in astonishment, that was a little harsh, even from Sasuke. By this time he had already left, leaving her to wallow in her pity.

"Ouch, that stung" I whispered.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto sang "forget about Sasuke, and let's go train together!"

Suddenly, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving us alone.

"Bye then" I said sarcastically. But my attention was caught by… a moving box?

"What in the world?" I questioned. Noticing my confusion, Naruto turned to stare and the badly, camouflaged box. Naruto stared at it suspiciously.

I watched as he took a couple of steps forward, and the box followed. He then began to run up and down the street, the box in tow till finally he stopped to face it.

Glaring at it, he pointed yelling "A square rock with two holes like that does not exist!"

I nearly fell over from disbelief "Of course, it's painfully obvious what it is!"

"I should have expected that!" a voice suddenly exclaimed, muffled from the box, "that the man whom I have high hopes for, and is also my rival!"

Then, out of no where, the box beamed a bright light, blinding us, and then explode into multicoloured smoke. I heard coughing and spluttering, when the smoke cleared, three young kids were crouched on the floor.

"Hey, you used too much gunpowder" the boy in the middle complained. He had spiky brown hair, and was wearing grey trousers, a yellow t-shirt and a long green scarf. His friends, were another boy with darker brown hair, who was wearing black trousers, a navy blue sweater and glasses, and a girl, who was dressed in a pink top and badge shorts, her orange hair was tied up in pigtails.

Another thing I noticed, was all three of them were wearing goggles much like what Naruto wore at the academy. The three finally noticed our baffled gaze and got up on there feet.

"The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult" the girl publicised dramatically, "and the female ninja from the senior group, Moegi!"

"Sex? Appeal?" I repeated slowly.

The navy blue boy was next, "The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon!"

And finally, the last boy. "This village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!"

I let out an 'oh' sound, so this is Konohamaru!

All together, they yelled that they were the Konohamaru Corps. Well, you got to give it to them, at least they had passion.

Naruto clearly wasn't impressed as he leaned his head against his hands. "Just as I thought" he stated boredly "it was the three of you. Why do the three of you have goggles on?"

Konokamaru giggled "we copied the old you."

"Oh?"

"Oh?!" the kid repeated, not happy, "you've been treating us so cold lately!"

"Erm… excuse me?" I spoke to Naruto "what's going on?"

He turned his gaze to me and whispered "they sorta call me their leader, I'm not really sure why?"

"Neither am I" I mumbled.

"Who's that leader?" Konohamaru asked pointing a finger at me, oh god this kid has picked up Naruto's bad habits.

"This is my friend Tomoko, she's on my team" he answered.

"Wow" breathed Moegi "you're really pretty!"

I smiled "why thank you! So are you."

She blushed slightly, this girl was a cutie pie!

"Alright" Naruto intervened "what do you guys want?"

Konohamaru turned to his friends and whispered something about him being cold again. So Moegi stepped forward, "Well, Leader, do you have some free time right now?"

"No" he answered pointing his thumb at his face, "I'm going to train!"

"Wha!? You said that you would play Ninja with us!" Konohamaru complained.

"Playing Ninja?" I chimed with an amused look. Naruto scratched the back of head nervously "it's not as bad as it sounds" he assured me.

"Ahem, what's the point in a ninja playing ninja?"

Wow, I didn't know Sakura was still around. She still had the defeated expression on her face, and was slouched forward. Once she reached us, she gave us a weird expression.

"W-what is it?" Naruto spluttered.

Sakura didn't answer, instead she just continued to glare daggers at him.

"Are you alright Sakura?" I asked, genuinely concerned. I've never seen her this defeated before!

Naruto let out a very uncomfortable laugh, I however was getting really worried.

"Hey" Konohamaru piped in "who is this big girl?" He to stared at her long and hard, before smirking.

"You're better than I thought!" the young boy mused, patting Naruto on the back. The elder boy gazed at him confused, "huh?"

"She's your… right?" he dragged out.

_'Oh no, he isn't thinking what i think he is… is he?'_

Kohonohamaru held his pinky finger, confirming my theory. And Sakura, wasn't impressed.

"Hey Sakura?" I said slightly higher than normal, "why don't we take a walk yeah?"

But Naruto, only had to make it worse.

"You kids are pretty sharp."

_'Naruto, is a dead man.'_

Sakura didn't hold back on the punch, she sent him flying backwards, into the fence. I cringed at his crash landing, but he kinda had it coming.

Sakura heaved in and out heavily.

"What did you do!?" Konohamaru demanded. Moegi and Udon went to check on their leader, whilst the third kid continued to square off with my female teammate.

"You ugly girl! ugly!"

Now I was getting really scared "Hey kid, it's not worth it okay…"

"Tomoko is much prettier than you by far! Leader should have her as his girlfriend."

I slapped my hand over my forehead, "why did you have to involve me?"

Sakura of course, was now in a complete rage and showed no mercy towards the kid. Once she was finished, she walked off in a huff.

"Hey! Sakura! Wait up!" I called chasing after her.

"I don't want your pity!" she snapped.

I rolled my eyes slightly "I wasn't going to give you any, lets just walk it off yeah?"

She didn't say anything after that, but she did let me walk along side her.

_'Okay, if I can get her away from them, maybe she begin to cool off.'_

Oh how wrong I was.

"That ugly-wide-forehead girl…" I heard Konohamaru grumble "is she really a girl?"

This kid really didn't know when to shut up!

Who does that remind you of?

Of course Sakura didn't take that laying down, and her expression was terrifying. Like some evil robot, she turned back around to face them, staring right at her targets. As she charged, the rest of them ran away.

All I could do was watch as they all disappeared from sight.


	28. Strangers from Another Land

"What to do?" I pondered "go see if Naruto survived Sakura's wrath, or go home."

Although thinking about it, if I were to go back to the house, I'd have to deal with Haruo. Looks like I made-up my decision, and walked in the direction my teammates ran down. However, I was stopped in my tracks.

"Oh! H-hello Tomoko-san!"

I turned my head right to see who had called me.

"Oh hey Hinata!" I greeted stopping, and turning to face her fully.

She made her way to me with a soft smile, "I… heard you got… injured on your last mission" she mumbled slightly, "A-are you okay."

I nodded "I'm perfectly fine, no permeant damage."

"So.." she began, "how are things? I, haven't seen you for a long time."

"Oh things are fine, would you believe me and Sakura are getting along?"

Hinata blinked, "really?"

I shrugged "Well, she's still annoying, but I guess I've learnt to tolerate her."

"And… what about?" She paused, making me raise an eyebrow. "You know…" she hinted.

I blinked a couple of times, not sure what she was on about, "do you mean Naruto?"

"No!" she answered quite loudly, her cheeks instantly turning red. "I meant Sasuke" she whispered.

I made an 'o' shape with my mouth, "oh right, erm… would you believe that we're actually friends again?"

"Not really" she commented, "since you swore time, and time again that you'd never forgive him."

I laughed slightly, but then the memory of our battle with Haku, flashed in my mind. "Well…" I started, "I sorta realised that I couldn't keep living in the past. And… he's really sorry about what happened."

Hinata smiled "you don't have to explain yourself to me" she assured, "I happy you and him made up."

Once again I let out a laugh "I just wish Haruo had that same attitu-"

I breeze suddenly swirled around me, whispering as to where Naruto and Sakura was. But that's not what made me stop mid-sentence, it was that fact they weren't alone.

_'Three people' _I analysed, _'but not from this village.'_

One particularly stood out from the rest, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.

"Tomoko?" Hinata called "is everything alright?"

I didn't answer her, as another presences appeared, this one was very familiar.

"Sasuke?" I muttered. I looked back at my friend, "sorry Hinata, something's just come up!" I told her and began running away from her, "I'll see you later, okay?"

I didn't stick around for her answer, as I sped left, following the whispers of the wind. It wasn't long till I saw a familiar shade of orange, reducing my speed, I continued towards them in a walk.

"Let's go" I heard an eery voice say, "We didn't come here to fool around."

"What's going on?" I demanded, my voice raised. Naruto, Sakura and the kids turned around to face me.

"Tomoko-chan" Naruto gasped.

"What did you guys do this time?" I asked them a little annoyed. I noticed Sasuke was in the tree, but was staring at something ahead of me. Following his gaze, I now noticed two boys and a girl standing before me.

_'So these are the guys I sensed.' _

The tallest boy was dressed all in black, and it had a strange hood attached to his clothing. He also had every weird face paint and carrying something wrapped, behind his back. His headband was around his forehead, but kinda hidden in the hood. The girl, had sandy blonde hair in four ponytails, two on the top of her head, and two just above her neck. Her headband was tied around her neck, she also wore a lilac robe with fishnets and a red slash around her waist, and she was carrying something thin and long across her back.

Finally, my eyes landed on the last boy, who was by far the most intriguing of all. I first noticed his eyes, a jade green, rimmed with black, defining his harsh gaze. He was quite short, dare I say shorter than Naruto. His skin was very fare, and his hair was a reddish auburn. On the left side of his forehead, there was, what looked like, some form of tattoo, a kanji saying 'love', I wondered what that truly meant. His clothing was a full black body suit, with t-shirt like sleeves and quarter length trouser legs. He also wore a white cloth over his right shoulder, and the left side of his hips, with a wide leather band system over the left shoulder, and right side of his hips. And finally, on his back was the biggest gourd that I had ever seen.

I stared at him, and he stared right back. From the look of his teammates were pulling, they were very anxious around this guy. But even though he had a scary presences, I wasn't afraid of him.

"Hello?" I greeted with a smile, making his teammates gasp suddenly, "can we help you with something?"

The taller boy looked at me as I was crazy and kept gazing at the shorter one. His green eyes never left me, as if he was studying me.

"No" the short boy answered, "We were just leaving." To anyone else, his misty voice would send an uncomfortable chill down the spine. But I seemed to be a different matter, I wasn't sure it was a good thing or not.

The strangers began to leave, till Sakura stopped them.

"Judging from your forehead protectors, you are ninjas from the Hidden Village of the Sand right?" she questioned. "The country of Fire and The Country of Wind have an alliance, but a treaty prevents ninja from entering each other's countries without permission."

"Sakura" I cut in, "if these people were intruding, they would have been stopped at the entrance" I explained. "Do you honestly think the village would just let them waltz in?"

The girl was the first to speak, "you're a keen one" she commented looking at me, and held something in her hand, showing us. "This is a traffic pass" she explained, "as you guessed, we're Genins of the Hidden Village of the Sand, from the Country of wind." She then placed the pass back in her pocket, "we came to this village to take the Chuunin selection exam."

"See?" I stated turning to my female teammate, "nothing to concern ourselves about it."

"Chuunin selection exam?" Naruto repeated slowly, "what's a Chuunin selection exam?"

"Oh come on Naruto really?" I asked rather taken back.

"Apart from the brown-haired girl, you all really must not know" the sand girl stated.

"Naruto" Konohamaru spoke, "you can advance from a Genin to a Chuunin if you pass the exam."

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed, "then I should take it, too."

"You knew about this to Tomoko?" Sakura asked.

I nodded, "of course, my brother has been helping with the arrangements, hence why he's not been on any missions."

"And you didn't think this was something that you should have told us?" she quizzed.

I shrugged, "I didn't see the importance of telling you, I assumed everyone knew about it."

The sand group began leaving again, and Sasuke finally joined us. "Hey, you there" he called, "what's your name?"

The sand girl turned back around with a flirty smile "me?" she asked pointing to herself.

I felt a wet drop in the back of my head, _'great, she's only just met him and she's already a Sasuke fangirl.' _

"No" he answered sternly,"the one next to you with the gourd."

The boy stopped, and once again faced us. "Gaara, of the Desert" he replied, "I am also interested in you. What's your name?"

My teammate smirked "Uchiha Sasuke."

I watched as they both stared at each other, it was a little tense. My gaze went back towards Gaara… He was so fascinating to me. If he didn't carry such a scowl on his face, I would consider him quite hansom, if you're into that kind of guy.

Noticing my focus on him, he glanced back at me "and you?"

I blinked, "me?"

"Yes, your name."

"Yes I'd much like to know that" the taller boy mused with a grin.

I grimaces slightly.

Gaara throw him a deadly look "shut up Kankurō."

Kankurō did as he was told, and Sasuke glared at me slightly, but I ignored it.

"Mori Tomoko" I retorted "nice to meet you."

Gaara gave me a little nod, as if he approved of me.

"Hey, hey" Naruto butted in "what about me?"

"I'm not interested" Gaara simply replied, and with his team, left.

"Konohamaru" I heard Naruto say "do I look weak?"

"Weaker than Sasuke and Tomoko" the boy responded, making Naruto moan really loudly.

Suddenly, Sasuke turned to face me, with a very ticked off expression.

"**Hwásédéaþsele béonþæs** (what the hell was that)**?!**" He demanded.

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"**Õu cunnan hwá ic acwædo**n (you know what I said)**!**" he snapped.

I gave him a baffled look, not understanding why he was so mad. Everyone else was watching us, clearly not understanding what he was saying.

"**Hwà sy sè bigspffic ford** (what is the big deal)**?**" I simply asked.

Sasuke hissed "**õu hlytas cunnan hwà õu béon gestreon sac** (you don't know what you are dealing with)**!**" he snapped, "**õu rihtdóm ácdrenc sum target** (you just made yourself a target)**!**"

I huffed "and you didn't?" I shook my head, "**ic hlytas behéfþ fridosibb** (I don't need protecting)**!**"

"What are they saying?" Konohamarau questioned.

"I have no idea" Sakura said slowly.

"I don't give a damn!" he yelled, "**bæs mann sy fecnestig** (that guy is dangerous)**!**"

"Stop it now!" I hissed, "you're just pissed because you didn't have his full attention!"

"Well maybe if you didn't flirt with him so much, he wouldn't had noticed you!"

_'What. The. Hell!'_

"You moron, I was being nice!" I shot back, "if you think that's flirting? then you're completely clueless!"

"Hey guys…" Sakura stuttered slightly, "come on, lets calm down!"

"Butt out Sakura!" He snapped.

"Oy! Don't speak to her like that!" I rebuked, "now you listen to me! You're not the only one wanting to get stronger. Everyone has goals, and wants to face other ninjas, this isn't all about you!"

"Oh please, a goal? all you care about is serving your goodness! You don't even know why your village was attacked! Let alone have a goal!"

Everything became deathly silent, everyone's eyes were the size of saucers.

Sasuke, realising what he just said, immediately frowned, "Tomoko… I didn't-"

"You're such an asshole!" I shrieked. I turned a heel and stormed off, my teammates called after me, but I ignored them.

I just needed to get away from them.

* * *

"Real smooth Sasuke" Naruto mocked.

"shut up dope!"

"What, just happened?" Sakura asked, completely confused.

"No!" Naruto spat "you of all people should know better, than to mention her memory lost!"

"Memory lost?" She repeated.

"I said shut up!"

"You know! Sometimes I wonder how a selfless person like her, can be friends with a guy like you!" Naruto sneered, "you treat her like complete crap! And she puts up with it, all the time."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Naruto! That's enough!" Sakura ordered.

"You don't deserve her as a friend!"

"I KNOW!"

Everyone was shocked at Sasuke's sudden outburst, nothing else was said.

Sasuke, clearly embarrassed, turn around and began leaving, hoping to find Tomoko and apologise.

* * *

"He just doesn't engage brain before mouth" I confessed. I sighed and stared at what stood before me, "I wish I could be like you, and just give him a swift kick. But I don't have hooves."

I looked up at the statue of a horse's head, just on the edge of the ranch. Just beneath it, was a burial urn. The statue was in perfect detail, it looked just like him.

"What should I do Kinnosuke?" I pleaded, "was I in the wrong? Should I say sorry?"

I chuckled "you were alway full of advice, and here I was expecting you to guide me, even though I'm talking to a statue."

I looked up to the sky and blinked. "What? It's that late already?" I questioned, taking note of the now golden skies.

"I bet get going, Haruo will begin to worry."

It didn't take me long to get back to the village, it was however, already nightfall. I gazed up to the star filled sky, admiring its beauty. I then gazed left, and noticed something, or in this case, someone, sitting on a roof of an apartment complex.

Narrowing my eyes, stopped walking to see who it was.

"Gaara?" I whispered.

I'd recognised that gourd from anywhere, he was perched on the edge of the flat roof, leaning his left forearm on his tucked in left knee. His right leg, was dangling on the edge. Like me, he was watching the sky, and had not noticed me.

I watched him for a while… wondering what was going through his head.

"We finally found you."

My gaze shot forward towards this unknown voice, Standing before me, were three hooded figures. They defiantly weren't apart of this village, because they were dressed as if they had come from somewhere with wintery conditions.

In the village, it was the summer season.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

The voice chuckled, it was a male voice, "What, you don't remember me? My little **Kendra**."

I inhaled a quick breath "what did you call me?"

The voice chuckled and took a couple of steps towards me. "Such a pity" he mused, lifting his hand and grabbed his hood, as he pushed it back, he said "I was much looking forward to our emotional reunion."

This guy was probably about two years older than me? He had looks and smirk that rivalled Sasuke's, with his dark brown hair and forest green eyes.

Wait… forest green eyes?

"Who are you!?" I asked again more forcefully. Suddenly, I felt a strong grip around my throat and was pushed to the a tree on the right.

_'No way!' _I thought _'I didn't even sense his movements!'_

This guy was now inconveniently close to my face, so much I could feel his heavy breath on my nose. "Listen to me, you little bitch!" he hissed, "I am your past, present, and future. We, are the reason you are here. We, are the reason you have remained here for so long. And we, will be your salvation in death!"

"W-what… ack… do… you mean?" I choked.

He pulled a sick smile, "Sweet, little **Kendra**, we are here to finish what we started, the end of your existence!"

"Tetsuya" another male voice spoke sternly, "our orders were-"

"Screw our orders!" He bellowed, "I've waited too long for this opportunity, and I won't fail again!"

_'Again? That… means...'_

His grasp tightened, making me gasp for air.

Bright, green flashes blinding me. I saw the golden field, my brother running with me, my mother smiling. Then I saw Fire, heard screaming… smelled blood.

Everything started to become dark, except for a woman, the woman covered with blood in my dreams.

"GET AWAY!" I screamed.

Suddenly, the grip on my neck was abruptly removed. I collapsed on the floor, coughing for breath. On my face, I could feel something small and irritable on my skin. It was swirling around me, like a protective barrier.

"Tomoko!?"

Someone was calling me, who?

I opened my heavy eyelids, everything was a blur. The people that confronted me ran away, all that remain was me, and this strange barrier. I lifted my hand, and grabbed a bit of it in a fist.

I unclenched it and gazed at the content.

"…Sand…?"

"Tomoko!" the voice called again, but I couldn't see who it was, and I passed out.

* * *

I could feel myself waking up, but I wasn't aware of my surroundings. Beneath me, was a warm mattress with cotton covers and a soft, fluffy pillow. Over my body, something warm and made of fabric, it was comforting.

My eyes, slowly fluttered open. I scanned my surroundings, it was still nightfall, but I was now in an apartment. I stared at the blanket that was over me, then took notice of a chair in the corner of the room, and the person sitting in it, asleep.

I forgot how peaceful he looked sleeping, I remember when he would sneak in my bedroom to talk, and we'd sleep side by side. He use to get in a lot of trouble for doing that.

Slowlying climbing out of the bed, with the blanket around my shoulders, I made my way towards him and knelt to his level.

"Sasuke?" I whispered, shaking him.

He began to stir, and released a very loud groan. Did I also mention he was incredibly grumpy when he woke up?

"Piss off!" he grumbled and tried to swat my hand away.

Yep! very grumpy when woken up!

"Sasuke come on!" I said a little louder.

He yawned and covered his eyes with his arm, "god sake Tomoko, couldn't you have waited till morning?"

"The last thing I remember was being in the streets, and now I'm somehow here" I stated, "details, now!"

Sasuke exhaled heavily, clearly annoyed. But eventually he stood up and left the room, "come on" he called, "might as well make some coffee."

I too, left the room not long after, which led to a sitting area and a small kitchen. In the kitchen, was a breakfast bar with one seat.

As he set the kettle to boil, I took at seat in the chair.

"How did I get here?" I finally asked.

"I saw you with some guy and two others, you then collapsed and they ran away" he replied whilst still preparing the drinks. "I'm not sure what really happened, but you passed out, so I brought you back to my flat."

Now I remember, but if I'm at Sasuke's flat… then…

"Shit!" I cursed, "Haruo is gonna kill me!"

"No he's not" Sasuke cut in, pouring the drinks out. "I've let him know where you are, I told him that you were training with me, and you pushed yourself too much."

He then turned around to face me, with two hot cups of coffee in his hands. He slid on over to me, then leaned against the counter.

Slowly I griped the cup, and brought it closer to me. "You didn't have to do that" I told him.

Sasuke stared at me, before taking a sip of his drink. We fell silent.

"You gonna tell me what happened?"

My grip on the cup got harder, "I… have no idea…" I removed one hand to rub my temple, "he said that he was my salvation in death."

"Salvation in death?" Sasuke echoed, "what the hell does that mean?"

I fell silent again.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked.

Looked up at him, he had a very pissed off expression on his face.

I shook my head "my neck will probably have a bruise, but… I'll be okay."

Sasuke nodded, but he still had some anger pent up in there. "God damn it!" he cussed "if I hadn't been such a jerk, this wouldn't have happened!"

I laughed slightly, "I'll take that as an apology?"

His expression softened, "my adrenaline was running wild, I got caught up in the moment…"

"Forget about it" I cut in, "besides… you were right."

Sasuke gave me a puzzled look.

"Do you remember the day we met Kakashi? and he asked us about our goals?"

Sasuke nodded.

"I struggled so much to answer that question" I confessed, "I've been living in ignorance bliss for so long…" I sighed, "My goal was to become a Genin, I never had anything planned after that."

Sasuke listened to me intently, waiting for me to finish.

"These people, Sasuke I…" I paused, "I think they were there…"

"Where?" he pressed.

I was now clutching onto my hair in distress, "I think they where there, when my village was attacked."

I saw his eyes widened, "how can you be so sure?"

I shook my head, "its hard to explain…"

Sasuke placed his cup on the counter and leaned his elbows on the breakfast bar, throwing his upper body forward. "Try me" he challenged.

I stared at him long and hard, debating whether to tell him. Granted, I told him everything when we were kids, but this is so much more complicated. But Sasuke was never one to judge on other people's hardships, and he knew mine so well.

I inhaled a deep breath, preparing myself.

"Since we got back from the Village Hidden in the Waves, I've been having nightmares" I began, "It always starts in a field, then I begin to hear voices…"

_**"I'm scared…"**_

I gasped harshly, and froze. But it wasn't enough for Sasuke to notice, so I carried on.

"Then, the field begins to die… and… I'm surrounded my death… and blood… and…"

_**"I'm scared… I'm scared…"**_

By now I was visibly shaking in terror, causing Sasuke to throw me a very concerned look.

"It always ends…." I stuttered "with a woman… covered in blood…"

_**"We, are the reason you are here. We, are the reason you have remained here for so long. And we, will be your salvation in death!"**_

"Oy!" I jolted back to my senses, I looked up to see he had reached over and grabbed my hand. Sasuke now looked worried sick, "it's alright."

My breathing was beginning to turn back to normal, I was calming down.

"does the woman ever say anything?" He asked.

I shook my head, "but, she appeared during my encounter with these people."

Sasuke released my hand, "do you think they pulled some genjustu on you?"

"No" I answered, "whatever this is, its all coming from my head, and I need to know why."

"So you believe these people have the answers?" he queried.

I nodded my head, "and I have a feeling they are going to take the Chuunin exam."

Sasuke remained quiet for a while, I wasn't sure what he was gonna say.

Well, I was thinking more towards 'Tomoko, you're as mad as a hatter. You need help.'

"Okay" he suddenly said.

"O…kay what?" I repeated slowly.

He smirked slightly "Okay, I'll help you!"

"What? no! Sasuke this is my problem, I don't expect you concern yourself with this when you have your own goals" I told him.

Sasuke made an 'ahem' noise, "you need to get more powerful for the Chuunin exams, and I need power for my revenge. If we spend our free time training, then its beneficial for both of us."

I blinked a couple of times, "there's just one problem, there is a slight possibility, that we won't be taking the Chuunin exams."

Sasuke smirked, "oh I have a funny feeling we will, just wait and see."


	29. Teaching Sasuke the dúnsæte fýst

**Ah I'm sorry for the delay!**

**I must have written and rewritten this chapter about twenty times.**

**Just so you know I have no clue about how combat works, so sorry if Tomoko's fighting doesn't make much sense.**

**Also! I know some of my readers wanted me to create a some sort of Deviant Art page, so I have and here is the address:**

.com

**Already I've done a sketch of both Tomoko and Haruo, I'm also thinking of creating a Love the way you Lie group on there.**

**Anyway, go check that out and enjoy the chapter**

**:)**

* * *

The next morning, myself and Sasuke set off earlier than usual so I could stopped at my house and get a change of clothing.

"Maybe you should wait outside" I suggested, "we don't want a repeat of yesterday." Sasuke nodded, agreeing with me.

Opening the front door, I saw Haruo in the kitchen washing dishes.

"Ahh Tomoko! You're back!" he cheered turning his head with a smile. Closing the door, I couldn't help but give him a suspicious glance, he seemed rather chipper today.

"Er… hi Aaron" I replied as I walked further into the house.

He gave me a toothy grin, "so… Did you have fun at Sasuke's house?" he dragged out. Suddenly, his eyes deceived his smirk. Now, his eyes were glaring evil vibes at me, you thought Sakura was scary? This was ten times worst.

"Er…" I began "fun isn't the word I'd use."

"Oh! really" he mused mockingly, he then turned around fully and began flinging his arms up in the air.

"YOU EXPECTING ME TO BELIEVE THAT! YOU SPENT THE NIGHT AT A BOYS HOUSE!" He shouted with flames in his eyes, "FOR ALL I KNOW THAT BRAT COULD BE STEALING YOU'RE INNOCENTS!"

I felt a wet drop appear on the back of my head "stealing my innocents? what are you talking about?"

"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT" he screeched and began running towards me, "DON'T LIE TO-"

I managed to grab a nearby newspaper and whack him in the face with it, causing him to hold his nose in pain.

"OWEEEE!"

"That is enough!" I hissed with a vein popping out of my head, "what you're suggesting is illegal, not to mention disgusting!" I made a 'hm' sound, "I don't have time for this, Sasuke is waiting for me and we have to meet the rest of the team."

I began to make my way to my bedroom, but not without hearing Haruo's dramatic cries.

"Tomoko… hit… me…" he whined, making me stop and sigh heavily, "could this be… that she's finally rebelling against me?"

"Oh good grieve" I muttered, "will you stop already, I'm not rebelling against you!"

"You use to be such a good girl" he sniffed "raising a young lady is tougher than I thought."

I knew what he was doing, he always acted like this when he wanted an apology. Even though he was in the wrong, and I had no reason to say sorry, he will pull this stunt to annoy me enough so I say it anyway.

"Haruo…" I said through gritted teeth.

He looked up at me, with a very hopeful puppy-dog look "Yeah?"

"Stop it!" I snapped, "god you're annoying!" And with that, I stormed upstairs.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked, rather annoyed as I walked out of the house.

I didn't answer, instead, I grabbed his wrist and stormed off.

"Oy!" he yelped slightly, taking his wrist back, "what's going on?"

"That stupid idiot!" I yelled, "he has the nerve to accuse me of sleeping with you! I swear, I'll kill him one day!"

"Sleeping with… what?" Sasuke questioned with his eye twitching.

"Exactly!" I screamed, "as if it would ever cross our minds!"

Sasuke blinked a couple of times, before turning really pale. "So he thought… that's sick, I think a threw up a little" he grumbled.

"I know" I said agreeing, "he got me so mad, I forgot to ask him what **Kendra** meant."

Sasuke stopped walking, "**Kendra**?"

"Oh!" I gasped halting as well, "I didn't tell you, that the guy that attacked me kept calling me that?"

"You may have forgotten that little detail" he answered, "**Kendra** sounds like a very old name."

I began walking again, "that's what I thought, only olden names like that haven't been used for centuries."

"Well" spoke Sasuke, "lets not dwell on it for now, we gotta meet the others."

It didn't take us long for us to reach the bridge to meet everyone, well… not everyone.

"Seriously…" I groaned, "this is getting really old."

Once again, Kakashi was a no show, and we had waited for two hours!

And Sakura, finally cracked.

"Hey, hey, Hey!" she screamed, "why does that person always make us wait, when he's the one who calls us up?"

Naruto hastily agreed with her. Sasuke, as usual, was leaning against the bridge rail, with me standing in front of him.

"How is he going to compensate a girl, who woke up late and had to give up blow drying her hair?" she complained, shaking her fist.

_'That's her issue?' _I thought, typical Sakura.

"I woke up late" Naruto confessed, "so I couldn't wash my face or brush me teeth!"

_'And that, is just gross. Typical Naruto!'_

Sasuke just kept glaring into the floor. Due to me waking him up so early, I guess he wasn't in a perky mood. I kinda felt bad…

Finally, Kakashi made his appearance. "Hello, gentlemen" he greeted, "I got lost in the path known as life today..."

"A LIE!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled, making my ears ring.

"Seriously!" I snapped, "lower the decibels!"

By the time Kakashi jumped down, myself and Sasuke joined the other two, standing in a line. I wondered what we'd be doing today, probably more crappy missions.

"I'll get to the point" our sensei said, lifting his index in front of his face. "I recommended all of you to the Chuunin selection exam, so…" He then dug in his pocket and pulled out four pieces of paper. "Here" he said, "take these applications."

I stared at him wide-eyed, was this really happening?!

"Chuunin exam?" Sakura repeated slowly.

"However, the recommendation does not force you to take it." Kakashi quickly explained "you can decide if you don't want to take it or not."

This is really happening, I had the choice to take this exam!

"Wait" I spoke remembering something, "is my brother okay with this?"

"He doesn't have a choice in the matter" Kakashi stated firmly, "this is your decision to make, not his."

"Yes!" Naruto perked up and launched himself at him, "I love you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Embarrassed, Kakashi quickly pushed out of the of the embrace. He handed Naruto's copy of the application, probably to stop him from hugging him again.

"Only those who wish to take it are to sign the applications" he told us, "and five days after that, get to school by three pm and go to room 301, that is all."

He handed out everyone's applications, leaving me last. Slowly I read the paper…

_**Mori Tomoko**_

_**I recommend one with the name above to the Chuunin selection exam under my name, Hatake Kakashi.**_

_**Jounin**_

_**Hatake Kakashi.**_

"Told you."

I looked up at the page to Sasuke smirking at me.

"I told you we'd be given a chance to enter" he clarified.

I smiled at him, "yeah you were right."

Kakashi didn't give us any missions that day, so we could get our paper work sorted. For me and Sasuke, this was a no brainer. He needed to enter to test his abilities, and I needed to enter so I could face that Tetsuya fellow.

"The Chuunin exam, eh?" Naruto mused, as the four of us walked. "There must be a lot of strong guys" he noted.

"Of course" I cut in, "Genin all throughout the land take this exam."

But Naruto wasn't listening, he seemed to be daydreaming about something.

"Hey Tomoko" heard Sakura speak, "does ninja from the mountain country enter this exam?"

"Well, yeah…" I answered, "but its more like a rite of passage, rather than gaining the next ninja rank."

"A rite of passage?" she repeated.

"Yeah, like a pilgrimage for warriors, lets see…" I began. "To obtain to the higher rank of _**beadurincs**_, they must issue themselves a challenge. It can range from finding materials, that would further advance military power and benefit the country, to going off into the wildness for three months and kill a great beast."

"I see" Sakura breathed, "so taking the Chuunin exam is another option for the pilgrimage?"

I nodded, "yes, but, it's not often that beadurincs take that option, due to it being outside of Yamakure. However, the shinobi nations came to an agreement that we would be allowed to enter the exam if we choose to. the only condition was that the Yamakure councilmen alone, would decide whether the participant has completed the pilgrimage."

"So, this will this be considered your pilgrimage Tomoko-chan?" Naruto quizzed.

I shrugged, "yeah I guess, but I'm now technically a ninja of Konohagakure. So whether I'll be examined by the councilmen or not, I'm not sure."

Sakura raised her hand saying, "well, did your brother get assessed?"

"I don't know" I answered truthfully. "The Chuunin Exams was held in a different country when he took it. I was still living with the Uchihas, we not long moved out after he returned home."

Sakura didn't say anything after that, in fact, she remained silent for the rest of the walk.

"Alright" spoke Sasuke stopping, "let's go Tomoko."

I realised that we were now on the outskirts of the training grounds, "right" I answered and hurried to follow him.

"Wait!" Naruto called "where are you going?"

The both of us stopped, I noticed the surprised look on Sakura's face.

This won't be good, if not worded correctly.

"Well…" I began nervously, "we, um… the both-"

"We both decided last night, that if we got selected to take the Chuunin exam, we would train together" answered Sasuke in a bored tone.

Sakura looked like she had just seen a ghost, oh boy…

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed, "but I wanted to train with Tomoko-chan!"

I grimaced slightly, "I'm sorry Naruto, I'll make it up to you…"

"How?" he grumbled.

"I'll… treat you to a bowl of ramen!" I quickly suggested.

Naruto's eyes twinkled in excitement and quickly agreed.

Well that didn't take much convincing.

"Hang on" Sakura said meekly, "what were the two of you doing last night?"

_'Don't answer that Sasuke, don't answer that Sasuke, Please don't answer that Sasuke!'_

"She slept at my house" Sasuke replied.

_'Sasuke, you're an idiot.'_

The look on Sakura's face wasn't pretty.

"What!? Is that why you turn me down straight away yesterday!? It was because of her!" she screeched, completely enraged.

"Now Sakura, its not what it sounds like…" I began.

"And what does it sound like exactly?" Sasuke cut in, "What I do with Tomoko is none of your business Sakura."

Sakura tried to make a comeback, but his harsh words seemed to freeze her on the spot.

Sasuke at this point, already began walking off. "Tomoko… hurry up."

I let out a nervous laugh as I waved by to them, and walked along side him.

"Oy" I whispered glaring at him, "did you have to be so harsh about it?"

"She's been annoying me all day" he complained, "besides, we've got nothing to hide. Anyone smart enough can see that we're only friends."

In a sense he was right, I had no attraction to Sasuke what so ever, and he had no attraction to me. We grew up together, the idea of liking him was like incest!

However, this is Sakura we're talking about… and everyone knows about her opinion on my friendship with Sasuke.

We managed to find an open area, a perfect place to train.

"What do you want to work on first?" Sasuke asked.

"Well… I haven't had a good spar in a while" I confessed.

Sasuke smirked "weapons or no weapons?"

"Hand to hand for now" I established, "I know how lethal you are with your shuriken."

"Well, I guess I could teach you a thing or two" he suggested in a jokey manner.

I took a fighting stance, spreading my feet apart, and my back straight. Holding my right arm in front of me, I flexed my fingers into a claw. "Maybe later" I said with a little smile.

"Oh" Sasuke mused with a mischievous gleam, "its been a while since I've seen that stance."

I chortled, "well, you saw Haruo fight plenty of times." I then pulled a smirk myself, "The thing is, I'm a lot better at the _**dúnsæte **__**fýst **_(mountain fist)than he is."

"Ahem" breathed Sasuke, "We'll see about that." And like a flash, he disappeared. I stayed in one place and closed my eyes, listening to the breeze.

He was coming at me from the left, Sasuke was fast, but not fast enough. As I managed to block his punch, by hooking his arm. He went for a kick, which I dodged.

"Ha! now your mine!" he yelled and used his free hand to strike. However, he forgot that I had a free hand to. Turning it to the left, I struck my claw into his tiber.

"What?" he gasped, but before he even realised it. I used his locked arm to fling him over my shoulder and he was flat on his back.

"Ow" he groaned. knelt above him, holding my claw close to his chest.

"I win" I chimed.

He shot me a very unamused glare.

"This blow to the heart would kill you instantly" I told him, "well, depending on how much force I put behind it."

Slowly I got off him to let him stand up.

"I was going easy on you" he confessed.

I raised an eyebrow, "sure you were."

"Okay" he breathed, "that lock, how would I be able to counter it."

"You're first mistake was the high kick" I informed him, "if you'd have kept my hands busy, my legs would have been vulnerable."

"Okay…" he spoke slowly, "but the name, _**dúnsæte **__**fýst**_, it's a little misleading."

"Ah you noticed" I expressed happily, "yes it is, even though its is form of Taijutsu." I held my index finger in the air, "in the modern tongue, its called Mountaineer fist, but we don't actually throw any punches."

I clenched my hand into a fist, and held it right in front of his chest. "a punch is clumsy, you need a lot a force behind it and it is very noisy to a wind reader_**. **_You're fingers are clenched so tight together, it causes friction in the skin, creating a slight vibration."

I then changed my hand into the claw shape. "This, is a little bit more lethal. It's kinda like the Gentle Fist that the Hyūga use, only it targets the bloodstream and not the chakra pathway system."

"So, its sorta like a stab" Sasuke stated.

"Yeah" I confirmed, "except it doesn't pierce the body. Imagine a tiger claw, tigers catch there prey by pouncing, and digging there claws deep, inflicting a lot of damage. But unlike like tigers, we aren't blessed with claws."

I then pressed the claw gently to where his heart was. "This is where the Gentle Fist comparison comes in. As I stated before, The Gentle Fist inflicts internal damage through attacking the body's Chakra Pathway System, which is closely intertwined with organs in the body. The _**dúnsæte **__**fýst **_however, focuses on the arteries and veins in the body."

I took a breath, "look at where my hand is now, my fingers are positioned on the vital veins and arteries connected to your heart. With enough pressure, this shot can crush all the veins and arteries connecting to your heart, blocking the blood and oxygen."

"Is it really that effective?" sasuke asked surprised.

I removed my hand from his chest, "it is, if you hit the right place, which is incredibly difficult with a moving target."

"So what are the vital points?" Sasuke quizzed.

"The most effective but hardest place is the heart" I told him, "with that one you gotta get up close and personal, which leaves you very vulnerable."

Sasuke crossed his arms, "so what's the easiest target?"

"When using the _**dúnsæte **__**fýst**_, the warrior primary, targets the head."

"The head?"

"Yeah, by attacking the head, you can create some serious disorientation, and even brain damage if you hit them hard enough" I explained. "But like I said, its difficult when your opponent is moving."

"So basically" Sasuke started, "don't get hit with that claw, no matter what."

"Yep!"

"Alright" Sasuke announced with a smirk, "lets do that again!"

* * *

For the past three days, myself and Sasuke spent our time training. We mixed it up every time with Taijutsu and weapon work. We even threw in some Ninjutsu for Sasuke.

He tried to teach me the fire ball justu, but we soon realised that it wasn't my forte.

It was two days before the exam, I had arrived at the training grounds a little earlier so I could get some prayers done. I reflected on my training, and my sleepless nights.

Yes, I still had the nightmares. In fact, they were getting worse and worse to a point where I'm waking up screaming. My brother hasn't been noticing much, because he's so busy with the exam.

Suddenly I sensed unfamiliar movement, coming towards me, with the full intention of attacking.

"So clumsy" I muttered, I jumped on my feet and caught my attackers fist in my hand. I took in his appearance, his straw hat indicated that he was from the Rain village. His face was completely covered by a mask and wore a heavy cloak.

"Impossible!" he sneered, "how did you detect my movements."

"You're breathing was so loud, I could have struck you in the dark" I commented. I went to strike him, but he managed to dodge it. Jumping back, he snickered slightly "looks like I underestimated you." He then suddenly threw several Kunai at me, aiming right at my chest.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the knives piercing through the air. With perfect timing, I deflected the Kunai effortlessly with my right vambrace.

The mysterious ninja was beginning to get frustrated now, and threw another Kunai. Like a flash, I caught the tip of the knife between my thumb and fingers, and flung it back, hitting him in the shoulder.

The ninja cried out in pain and cradled his wound, "you have certainly gotten stronger" he commented.

I smiled, "you're gonna have to a lot better than that to beat me."

"Indeed" he mused, "but I'm not through just yet."

I smirked "oh I think you are."

"And why's that?"

"Because my friend is behind you" I answered pointing.

"Huh?" He never got to finish his sentence, as Sasuke gave him a stiff kick in the face, knocking him out instantly.

"What a stupid thing to do" the Uchiha remarked.

I let out a 'ahem' noise, "I was wondering when you were gonna show yourself."

Sasuke adjusted his armbands "I was intrigued with what the fool would do. But, my curiosity has been sated."

"Fair enough" I commented "come on, lets go to the lake so you can practice your fire ball justu."


	30. Confrontation

**Urgh, such a jumpy chapter! **

**As you can tell, I'm trying to fill in as much content in my chapters as I can. Because I don't know about you, but nothing infuriates me more than reading a chapter that's only just over a thousand words, and have too many chapters!**

**the last thing I want is this story to have over 100 chapters, and I'm sure you lot don't want that either (or maybe you do). **

**damn it I'm ranting, okay shutting up now. **

**enjoy the chapter and reviews are much appreciated!**

**:)**

* * *

_"Sweet little Kendra."_

_I gasped, scanning the dead field. I couldn't hear anything, not the sound of the wind, or the chirping of the birds. Just an uneery silence… _

_"Tetsuya" I hissed, turning around to see him standing there, an evil smirk plastered on his face._

_"Why so baffled Kendra?" he remarked in a sickening sweet voice. He then tilted his head to the side with a very twisted smile, "don't you remember me? Because I certainly remember you."_

_"What do you want from me!?" I cried out, my fear growing more intense by the second._

_Tetsuya laughed manically, "everything, sweet Kendra! I want everything!"_

_As he continued that crazed laugh of his, I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. With widened eyes, I glanced at it, a pale hand… covered with blood._

_**"I'm scared… I'm scared… I'm scared…."**_

_Slowly turning my head, I couldn't but whimper in terror as I stared up at her… the woman covered in blood, with Tetsuya laughing in the background._

* * *

I shot up from bed, screaming till my lungs gave out.

"Tomoko!?" Haruo called worried as he barged into my bedroom.

I clutched on to my head with my eyes closed, the dream replaying in my mind.

"Hey… Sweostor?" Haruo called getting closer. "It's alright, you were dreaming, that's all."

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

_'No! She's back!'_

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

I harshly shoved the hand away, and grabbed a Kunai that was on my side table. I managed to pin them against the wall, holding the knife to there throat.

"Tomoko!?"

I blinked, snapping out of my fearful rage. Haruo's forest green stared down at me in shock, and was completely frozen.

_'Haruo? What?'_

"Calm down Sweostor" he said as calmly as he could, "take the Kunai away from my throat."

I dropped the knife, causing it to collapse to the ground with an echo. stepping away from him slightly, I stared in horror at my shaking hands.

"Oh god… what have I done?!" I cried out in anguish. "Haruo…" I whimpered looking up at him, "I'm so sorry, I didn't… I didn't…"

Immediately he embraced me, bringing my head to his chest. "Tomoko…" he whispered, "what ever it is you are seeking, please don't pursue it."

"What?" I breathed.

I felt his grip tighten "please, just remain the way are you are, just for a little while longer."

The pain that I could hear in his voice was almost unbearable, I'd never heard my brother talk like this.

"Brother" I spoke pushing out of his embrace slightly, "what does the name Kendra mean?"

Haruo combed my bangs away from my eyes "where did you hear that name?"

I turned my gaze downwards, not sure whether to tell him or not.

Haruo stared at me with a sad smile. "I've known you all my life, and still you struggle to open up to me." I stared up at him again, as he continued.

"I guess that's why I'm so jealous of him, of both of them. It only took the Uchiha brothers a month for you to become normal again."

My eyes widened slightly, it had been years since he talked about… **him.**

Haruo pulled me into a hug once again. "I only have one desire, sweostor" he spoke softly, "and that is to protect you, until my dying breath. I'll only ask one thing of you, Tomoko. And that's to be happy, and not change a thing."

_'Haruo…'_

I eventually wrapped my arms around his waist, returning his hug.

"Now, promise me you won't seek that name no more. Do you understand?"

I remained silent, not wanting to voice my thoughts.

_'I'm sorry, Aaron. But I must remember what happened, even if it means sacrificing my happiness.'_

* * *

The day had finally come, the day of the Chuunin exams. I was nervous, excited and scared. I'm not exactly sure how someone could feel those emotions all at once, but that's the only way I could describe what was going through my head.

However, as I sat on my bed, hugging my tucked legs and staring into nothing. Haruo's words from the early hours of this morning, echoed in my ears.

_**"Please, just remain the way you are for a little longer."**_

_'What did he mean by that' _I questioned, _'is this path I'm going down, really changing me?'_

"Hey."

I looked up, seeing Sasuke standing in the doorway. I gave him a small smile "you're early."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, "actually, I'm right on time" he told me pointing at my clock.

I followed his finger, to see that it was indeed the time he said he would come over.

I couldn't help but laugh, "wow time sure flies when you're having fun eh?"

Sasuke threw me a very unconvinced look, which caused me to become slightly nervous.

"You're terrible at hiding how you feel" he stated sitting on the edge of the bed, "what's bothering you?"

_**"I've known you all my life, and still you struggle to open up to me. I guess that's why I'm so jealous of him, of both of them. It only took the Uchiha brothers a month for you to become normal again." **_

I hesitated, to really sure how to phrase my sentence.

"Do I seem… I don't know, different?"

"Different…?" Sasuke repeated slowly.

I nodded, scratching the back of my head.

Sasuke cleared his throat slightly. "Well" he began, "you're a lot more distracted, but… focused at the same time."

I through him a slight look of disbelief, "that… makes.. no sense!"

Sasuke shrugged, "well you've always been a complex person, and maybe slightly complicated."

"Is that a compliment? or an insult?" I asked with a wet drop on the back of my head.

"It's an observation" he confirmed, and nudged closer. "What's brought all this on?" he asked.

I hugged my legs tighter, "I had another nightmare last night. This one's the worst by far…"

"What happened?"

"It was pretty much the same, only Tesuya was in it… mocking me" I explained.

Sasuke was quiet for a short moment, till he asked what happened next.

"Haruo heard me screaming, and I didn't recognise him. So… I put a kunai to his throat."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly "Tomoko! that's-"

"I know!" I cut in "its bad, really bad! I have no idea what came over me, I just… got so caught up in my head."

He held his head in his hand with a contemplating stare, "no wonder your brother was so quiet this morning."

"He thinks I shouldn't take the exam" I told him, "what do you think I should do? and be honest."

Sasuke removed his hand from his head, "the ninja side of me is telling me, due to all the training we've done, is to take it. However, me as your friend, begs to differ."

I finally released my legs "so what should I do?"

"Think of it like this" he started, "if you don't take it, you'll never be able to confront Tesuya."

He was right, this was possibly the only chance I'd get, I had to take it.

Sasuke stood up and walked to my dresser, picking up my vambrace. "It's like Kakashi said, it only gets harder from here."

He threw the vambrace at me, causing me to catch them.

"Now" he announced, "if you're done questioning yourself, lets get a move on."

I smiled, and proceeded to fasten my vambrace on my arms.

* * *

Both me and Sasuke had finally arrived at the academy entrance, Naruto turned up not long after. We were now waiting on Sakura.

"She is coming right?" I asked.

Naruto scratched his face "I think so."

And speak of the devil, she turned the corner and walked towards us.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called "you're late."

Sakura held her hand up "sorry…" she said shyly. She then lingered her gaze on Sasuke, as if she was remembering something.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun" she greeted shyly.

Sasuke turned his head slightly and greeted her back with a dull hello.

"Are you alright Sakura?" I asked, noting how quiet she was.

"Hm? Oh yeah I'm fine, never better" she replied airily.

I gave her an unconvinced look, but didn't push the subject. If she wanted to talk about it, she would have done so.

"Come on" I spoke to everyone, "lets head inside."

All four of us walked into the building and down the halls. From what the form said, we needed to be on the third floor. However, a crowd of people were blocking our way.

A fight could be heard, and someone was talking about how you need to be at a commander level to pass this exam, or something along them lines. As we navigated through the crowd, we were now able to see two boys blocking the doorway.

The boy on the left had a bandana head band on, and had back eyes and long chocolate brown hair. The boy on the right, wore a regular headband and looked like he had a flu of some sorts.

_'That's weird' _I thought, _'those two look oddly familiar.'_

"What's wrong with sifting out those who aren't going to pass anyway?" the left boy mused. I glanced upwards at the door sign, and my eyes narrowed.

_'Room 201? That's not right.'_

"That's a sound argument" said Sasuke stepping forward, "But I will pass." The rest of us followed behind him, but I lingered back a slightly. I wanted to see if any of them had figured it out yet.

Sasuke took another step forward, "and, undo this field you've created using an illusion technique, I want to go to the third floor."

_'Nice one Sasuke!'_

"What's that guy talking about?" I heard someone whisper. Another person replied with "I don't know."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, seriously… don't they know how to count?!

"Oh?" the left boy dragged.

"You noticed?" the left boy finished.

I swear, I know these guys from somewhere! They look like two of Haruo's friends, Kotetsu and Izumo. Well, they could be related to them I guess, but the similarities are too sharp.

"Sakura, how about you?" Sasuke asked turning his head to her, "you should've noticed first."

"What?" she breathed.

"Your analyzation skills and illusionary technique know-how is the best in our squad." Sasuke told her with a smirk.

_'I see' _I thought, he's trying to build her confidences back up.

"Sasuke-kun…" she muttered.

"Come on Sakura" I whispered to her, "tell everyone what's happening."

She smiled slightly, "Sasuke-kun, Tomoko…. thanks." She then perked up more, "of course I've noticed it already, because this is the 2nd floor."

Naruto nodded in agreement, even he could see it.

"Learn to count kids" I ordered playfully.

The right boy hummed, "you're pretty good. But being able to detect it isn't enough…" Suddenly, he moved in for an attack. Placing his hands on the ground, he lifted his leg into a kick.

Sasuke, prepared a counter and lifted his leg as well.

However, no contact was made, due to someone getting in-between them and catching the attack.

_'Whoah, I didn't even see him move he was so fast!'_

This guy, was… rocking a very interesting look, that's putting it nicely. He had black, very shiny hair that was cut into a bowl cut and the bushiest eyebrows I've ever seen. He also wore a forest green jump suit, a headband around his waist and orange leg warmers.

Like I said… his look was… interesting.

Suddenly, I felt a harsh gaze upon me. I turned my head left… and that's were I saw him.

_'Tesuya.'_

He was no longer wearing his black cloak, now I could see what he was wearing. He was wearing a white, male kimono top with long sleeves, and white baggy pants. He was wearing traditional ninja vambrace and leg braces. A grey cloth was hanging halfway up his stomach to his knees. And around his waist, was a red rope, holding everything in place.

His brown hair was down to his shoulders, so it was a little shorter than Haruo's, and his forest green eyes stared at me intently.

The jump suit guy's teammates could be heard talking to each other, but I wasn't really paying attention… until brushy brow stepped towards Sakura.

"Huh?" I blinked a couple of times, and watched him introduce himself.

"My name is Rock Lee" he announced confidently, "you are Sakura-san, right?"

Sakura had a slightly baffled look on her face, "what?"

He then gave her a toothy grin and held his thumb up, "Let's go out together! I will protect you until I die!"

I almost choked on my breath, well that was forward! I had to give it to him though, the guy had guts.

However, his big efforts seemed to have no effect on Sakura, in fact, I think it was the opposite to what he wanted.

"No way…" she replied.

Lee's forehead turned very blue "what?" he said defectively.

Sakura glared at him, "you're too 'unique' for my tastes."

I look at her completely disgusted "Sakura!" I snapped.

"What?!"

"That was just down right mean!" I scold.

"Oh come on" she moaned, "you gotta admit he is a little weird."

I slapped my hand on my forehead, "you can be such a bitch!"

"You're suppose to identify yourself before you ask" I suddenly heard Sasuke say smugly.

"You're a rookie aren't you?" a familiar voice asked him, "How old are you?"

"I'm not obligated to answer that" Sasuke replied simply.

"What!? Why you little… Tomoko?"

I turned around, hearing my name, and looked at the person who said it.

"Huh?" I then smiled, realising who it was "Oh hi! Fancy seeing you here!" He was quite tall, and had long brown hair with grey eyes.

Sasuke threw me a confused glance, as I stepped closer.

"So you're a part of the rookies from this year" my friend remarked.

I nodded, "yep."

"Oh" the female teammate, with brown buns tied hair on both sides of her head, sang "So this is Tomoko-san? So you're the one-"

"Shut up Tenten!" my friend hissed.

i giggled, "always so riled up!"

My friend blushed a deep crimeson shade.

Sasuke then turned to the left and began walking off, it was then I noticed Lee leaning against the wall all depressed. What caught me off guard, was that Naruto was doing it to.

"I'm too unique…?" I heard Lee repeated solemnly, along with Naruto saying "no one cares about me."

I shook my head at them, its not like it was the end of the world.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, lets go!" Sakura suddenly cheered and grabbed their hands. As they began to walk off, I lingered behind and faced the depressed boy.

"Lee right?" I spoke, making him look up. "I'm sorry about her" I told him sheepishly "sometimes she doesn't engage brain before mouth."

Lee smiled at me "oh that's quite alright! If anything, fair maiden, it has made me more determined to win her heart."

I could feel a slight wet drop form on the back of my head, "well… erm… good luck with that… I guess."

He held his thumb up to me, "You are a very kind and beautiful person Tomoko-san, its no wonder-"

"Lee!"

I laughed slightly, "thanks well I best catch up with my team. It was nice meeting you, and I'll see you around Neji!"

I waved goodbye and did a short jog to meet up with my teammates.

"So… how do you know that guy?" Sasuke asked noticing my presence. They all stopped and turned to face me, curious to know my answer.

"He's my friend's cousin" I simply replied, "I don't know him that well but I see him from time to time, we chat sometimes."

"Is he powerful?" Sasuke quizzed.

I shrugged, "yeah I guess, but like I said… I hardly know the guy."

"he seemed to know you quite well" Sakura pointed out.

I threw her a harsh glare "well at least I don't judge books by their covers! I'm still disgusted at what you said!"

Sakura gave me a surprised look, then huffed "well excuse me! But some of us don't want boys to be fanning all over you like some rare bird!"

"He was being nice! you Knucklehead!" I shot back venomously "And since when to boys fan all over me?!"

"Oh please!" she dragged out, "you're so naive and gullible! It's sickening to watch!"

"shut up Sakura!" I hissed.

"Oh look at me" she mocked with a voice a pitch higher, "I'm Tomoko, I pretend that my life is just perfect! I think everyone loves me when in fact everyone just feels sorry for me, because I try to hide the fact that I'm completely messed up in the head because of some wacky dream!"

A very awkward silence followed. Yeah, I had actually told Sakura about my nightmares, but not in as much detail as I did with Sasuke. But that's not the point, the fact that she just blurted it out for everyone to hear… was mortifying for me.

Sakura, realising what she just said, covered her mouth and gasped.

Angry was an understatement, I… was… fuming!

"Tomoko… I'm-"

"You're such a brat!" I bellowed, "I trusted you not to tell anyone! And you yell to the hills about it!"

"I'm sorry" she tried to apologise, but I wasn't having any of it. I held my hand out to stop her from approaching me, "Sakura! If you come any closer to me, I won't hestiate to smack you one."

Surprisingly Naruto and Sasuke remained quiet, probably because they knew once I was in a rage… any consoling would earn them an injury.

I breathed in and out heavily, trying to calm myself down. "I need to walk this off, I'm too pissed off to be near any of you right now!"

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sasuke asked in a hush tone.

I shook my head, "I'll see you guys later."

I didn't say another word as shoved past Sakura and turned left. I wasn't sure how long I walked for, as I was so caught up in my own head. After a short while, I finally stopped, and leaned on the wall via my shoulder, and hung my head low.

"Messed up huh?" I drawled, slowly… I felt tears running down my face. The truth was, I didn't storm off because I was angry… I did it because I didn't want them to see me cry.

It's pathetic really, I can usually handle Sakura's snobbish comments well. but with everything going on right now… I was just more sensitive than usual.

I turned to leaned my back against the wall and proceeded to wipe my tears away, "come on Tomoko, pull yourself together!"

"Oh but you're so pretty when you cry…"

I shot my head up, when I heard the voice that haunted my dream.

"Tesuya!" I said through gritted teeth.

I didn't even notice him standing in front of me, god I'm so out of it.

"Oh so you remember me now?" he jeered.

I huffed "I heard you're teammate call you that, I'm not stupid!"

"Ah" he said, sounding disappointed but not in a pleasant way, "I wish you could remember the times we would spend together sweet Kendra."

"Stop calling me that!" I snapped.

But all Tesuya did was laugh manically.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Who are you? and how do you know me!?"

Suddenly, Tesuya trapped me between his body, and the wall. His arms trapped my shoulders, and his face was dangerously close to mine.

"Get off me" I demanded, beginning to panic slightly.

"But you're so adorable when you squirm" he replied, his hot breath hitting my face, it made me want to gag.

I went to grab a Kunai from my pouch, but he caught my wrist and slammed it above my head.

"Let go of me!"

"Since you're so determined to know, I guess I can let slip a little bit of information." he sang and brought his lips to my ear.

As he whispered the answer in my ear, I gasped in horror.

Eventually he pulled away, but was still too close for comfort.

"Are you shocked?" he teased.

"If you're my… then why are you after me!?" I demanded.

I began to lose my breath, as he grabbed my throat and began to squeeze down.

"Because you're existent mocks my own, because of you I have remained in the shadows" he hissed, "and embraced the darkness."

"So… ack… you were… there that… ack… day?" I managed to choke out.

He pulled a very twisted smile, "yes little Kendra, and now I've come to finish what I started."

"Tomoko?!"

Tesuya glanced to the right, "oh, your teammates have finally arrived."

I attempted to look at them, but he harshly crashed my head against the wall, forcing me to cry out in pain.

"Let's give them a little show, shall we?"

"What-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence, due to the fact that this boy, who wants me dead… planted his lips brutally on mine.

I screamed into his mouth, and attempted to push him off! But he was a lot stronger than me. I never felt so sick in my life, I didn't want him this close to me!

When he removed his lips from mine, I began to gag excessively… I wanted to hurl so bad right now.

Tesuya turned his gaze to the right again, "I think they enjoyed that."

Now I could look at my temmates. Sakura had a very shocked expression, Sasuke was trying his best to remain calm, and Naruto… couldn't contain his anger.

"Get your fifthly hands off of her!" he screamed.

Tesuya raised an inquisitive eyebrow "he's a lively one."

"Don't hurt them! Or I swear-"

"Relax little Kendra" the cut in "I won't lay a finger on their naive little heads."

Sasuke glared at him, "So you're Tesuya."

"Tesuya?" Sakura repeated, "you know this guy Sasuke-kun?"

"This bastard has harassed Tomoko before" he answered her, "I saw it myself."

"Ah yes I remember you now" Tesuya chimed wickedly, "but… you weren't the one who interrupted our reunion." He pondered for a moment, "lets see, he was a scary looking fellow, with eyes of a demon-"

"Enough!" Naruto yelled, "let go of her now!" Naruto came charging towards us. But Tesuya was too fast, and flung me at him, causing us both to crash on the ground.

Urgently, I gasped and coughed heavily for air.

"Tomoko!" Sakura cried and kneeled to check on me.

I cradled my throat and glared up at my enemy.

All Tesuya did was smirk, "now that's the look I want to see, I look forward to seeing you again, sweet Kendra."

And with that, he walked away.

"Are you alright Tomoko?" Sakura fussed.

I couldn't help but cough a little, "I'll be fine…"

"THAT BASTARD! I SHOULD KICK HIS ASS FOR WHAT HE DID!"

"Stop it Naruto!"

Everyone stared at me in shock.

"Don't hurt him…" I ordered.

"Why!?" Naruto demanded.

"Because… he's my cousin."


	31. The Ten Rookies Assemble

"Your... cousin?" Naruto repeated slowly.

I continued to breath in and out heavily, but nodded in response.

"But... if he's your cousin... then why did he... why did he... THAT'S SICK!"

Sakura nodded in agreement, "surely something like that is illegal, to make advances on to a family member."

"Actually, its not as taboo as you think" I informed them.

The both of them looked at me as if I had two heads, which caused me to sigh loudly.

Sasuke held his hand out for me to grab it, after doing so he pulled me to my feet. "Well, back in the early days... it was actually common for cousins within clans and such to marry, as it was believed that it would keep the bloodlines strong" I explained as I dusted myself off.

"Keep the bloodline strong? What do you mean?" Sakura questioned.

I took a breath and jabbed my thumb at Sasuke, "take the Uchiha clan for example, well in the past they believed that if they had cousin's maried and bred together, their Kekkei genkai would remain strong."

"Did... did the Uchiha clan really do that Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked him.

Sasuke nodded.

"Hell, some clans went to the extreme of pairing siblings together" I stated.

Both Naruto and Sakura pulled extremely disgusted looks.

"Look I'm not agreeing with it by any means, but that's how they thought they could maintain their bloodline. It wasn't till a hundred years later, they realized that inter breeding family members actually weakened the Kekkei genkai, and has since been abolished from this country."

"But in Yamakure, that isn't the case" Sakura stated more than asked.

I nodded, "I know for a fact that I don't have a Kekkei genkai, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a way to control the population within Yamakure. Like I said countless of times, its an isolated place, so its rare for someone to meet and marry someone who comes from a foreign land."

I then shrugged my shoulders, "then again, I haven't lived there in years... so things might have changed."

Sakura kept staring at me with a worried look, "How many times has he harassed you?"

I raised my eyebrow at her, "why does that matter?"

"Because you may need to report it."

I rolled my eyes at her "don't be stupid Sakura, I can look after-"

"Stop it!" she cut in, "this guy is clearly far stronger than you are!"

"Sakura's right" said Sasuke, "this guy is dangerous."

"Oh not you to" I snapped at him.

"Tomoko-chan" Naruto cut in, sounding quite serious "quit being so stubborn."

"Excuse me?!" I spat.

Naruto placed his hands behind his head "we're not saying you can't handle yourself, we're just worried about you."

I blinked, confused at what he was talking about.

"We all know how strong you are, but what we just saw was really scary. We're a team remember? We look out for each other." He told me.

Sakura nodded, "I know me and you don't get on the best of times, but I do consider you a friend" she told me.

"Guys" I muttered.

Sasuke then gave me a light slap on the back of my head, causing me to wince.

"What they're trying to say, is that you don't have to face this problem alone" he told me, "so don't scare us like that again, and the next time you confront that guy... we'll be there to help you."

I stared at them in shock, but I soon pulled a smile "thanks guys..."

* * *

We finally reached room 301, however, there was someone waiting there for us.

"I see" spoke Kakashi, "so Sakura came as well."

All of us stared him in confusion.

"You can now officially register for the Chuunin Exam" he told us.

Sakura let out a breath "what do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth" he began, "this exam can only be taken in teams of three."

I raised my eyebrow, only a team of three?

"Of course, this team in particular is given the exception" he quickly added.

I folded my arms "but surely that's not deemed fair to the other participants?"

Kakashi hummed, "yes but, this isn't the first time we've allowed a four man team into the exam. If worse came to worse, one of you would have to be put in a different group. However, there is a reason we put you four together, because you are all best suited to each other."

"I see" I mumbled.

"But you said that we could decide if we wanted to take it or not" Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, I did" he answered.

Sakura pulled a crossed expression "so you lied?"

Kakashi shrugged a little "yes" he simply answered, and then explained that if he told us the truth, the rest of us would force Sakura to take it. "Even if you didn't want to take the exam, if Sasuke asked you, you would try to take the exam anyway, for Sasuke, Tomoko... and Naruto" he said calmly.

'_I get it, he wanted Sakura to her to take the exam for her own accord.'_

"So, what would have happened if only Sasuke-kun, Tomoko and Naruto came here?" she questioned.

"I would have prohibited them from taking the exam and not allowed them through these doors, even though the group would reduce to the correct number of three" He answered. "However" he chirped "the four of you came here of your own free will."

He called each of our names, one by one, and smiled under his mask. "Well done" he told us, "I'm proud of the four of you. You're my team." He then stepped away from the door, "Now, go."

I girnned "we won't let you down Sensei!"

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, "lets go!" Both Sakura and Sasuke opened the doors, and all for of us walked inside. Once entering the room, we took notice of all the people, and there were a lot of them.

"Wow..." Naruto muttered under his breath.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly and Sakura questioned what was going on. Everyone, and I mean everyone's eyes was glued onto us. It was a little unnerving to say the least.

"There's so many people" Sakura observed, "are all these people taking the exam?"

I glanced at her "don't look so nervous, we're all in the same boat remember?"

"Sasuke-kun, you're late!"

"Huh?" I turned my head right, I know that annoying voice from anywhere.

She threw her arms around Sasuke's neck and hugged him from behind, "I've been eagerly waiting for you ever since I couldn't see you for the first time in a long time" she gushed.

I felt a wet drop form on the back of my head, and Sasuke just glared evilly at her, clearly not enjoying being in Ino's arms.

"Get away from Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screech angrily "You Ino-pig!"

Ino jumped off of Sasuke, but still had her arm around his shoulder. "Oh my, it's you, Sakura" she mocked, " Your forehead is wide and you're still ugly... as usual!"

"What did you say!?"

Ino just pulled a face at her, infuriating Sakura more.

'_Still immature.' _I thought.

"What, are you four going to take this troublesome exam, too?" a voice said lazily.

I couldn't help but laugh at the person "you think everything is troublesome Shikamaru" I stated.

Shikamaru shrugged casually as his teammate, Choji, was demolishing a bag of chips.

"Hey, its the idiot trio!" Naruto remarked.

"Stop calling us that" Shikamaru shot back then groaned about it being annoying.

"Yeah! I found you all." I turned my head back to the front, and grinned "Hinata! You're here to?"

Hinata nodded "I-it would seem... that w-way" she stuttered.

She noticed Naruto staring at her, and blushed a deep crimson. Her teammates, Shino and Kiba, who was the one that spoke earlier, stood next to her.

"What? So you three made it, too? Geez..." Shikamaru remarked.

Suddenly, I heard a very small bark.

"Hm?" I looked at the top of Kiba's head, there lazing on it, was small white dog... staring at me.

Kiba to took an interest in the puppy "what is it Akamaru?"

The dog yelped again and kept his gaze on me, I couldn't help but smile at him.

Akamaru wagged his tail and jumped off of his owners head.

"Oy! Akamaru!" Kiba called.

Thankfully, I managed to catch the dog in my arms . "Careful" I told the pup "you could have hurt yourself."

But the dog put his front paws against my chest and began to lick my face, causing my to giggle.

Kiba stared at me in astonishment "well, he's not usually that friendly with new people" he stated.

I scratched behind Akamaru ears "I have a certain nack with animals."

"Yeah" Naruto cut in "they all seem to love her straight away."

I passed the dog back to Kiba, even though Akamaru wanted to stay in my arms.

"He's a sweet thing" I told Kiba smiling, "I can tell you take good care of him."

Kiba scratched the back of his head nervously with his cheeks a slight shade of pink "Oh er, you noticed huh?" he mused with a laugh.

I just smiled back at him, which caused his face to get even redder.

Kiba then cleared his throat. "So, I see all ten Genin rookies this are going to take the exam" he noted, "How far do you think we can get, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hm, you seem confident, Kiba" Sasuke stated.

Kiba threw him a wolfy grin "We trained like hell, we won't lose to you."

"Shut up" said Naruto, "putting Sasuke aside, I won't lose to you."

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun" Hinata spoke quietly, "Kiba-kun didn't mean it that way..."

"What?" Naruto said loudly, making Hinata a mute again.

"Naruto don't yell at her" I said crossly.

"But I can't hear her" he complained.

"Well we can certainly hear you" I replied sarcastically.

Suddenly, Choji starting walking towards Kiba, his eyes set on Akamaru. But Shino, blocked his path.

"What?" Choji groaned. Shino's eyes cast downwards, to see a bug on the floor.

"Don't step on it."

"Huh?"

"I said don't step on it" Shino repeated.

Choji raised an eyebrow "You're going to eat that?"

I gave him a weird look "did I just hear you correctly?"

"Hey you guys" someone called.

We all looked to the left, a young man, with long, silver hair and glasses walked towards us. He was a Leaf Genin, and wore his forehead protector in the correct place.

"You should quiet down a little" he ordered us, placing his hands on his hips. "So you're the ten rookies that just graduated from the academy, correct?" He tsked slightly, "You're all fooling around with those cute faces... geez, this isn't a field trip."

"And who are you?" I asked sternly.

"Who are you to tell us that!?" Ino snapped.

The man smiled "I am Yakushi Kabuto. Look around you..."

We did as he said, and realised everyone was still staring at us intently.

'_I guess word travels fast.'_

I then glanced behind me, and saw three particular guys glaring at us.

"The ones behind you are from the Hidden Village of Rain" Kabuto told us, "they have a short temper."

"Try saying that a little louder, I don't think they heard you" I shot back sarcastically.

"Everyone is tense since it's right before the exam" he explained, "I warned you so that you won't get picked on."

I stared back at Kabuto with narrowed eyes, he began remarking that it couldn't be helped due to the fact we're rookies and don't know anything.

"It makes me remember the old me" he mused.

'_This guy is really annoying' _I thought.

"Kabuto-san, was it?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah" he answered.

"Is this your second time, then?" shequeried.

"no" he replied "it's my seventh."

I blinked a couple of times, did I hear that right?

"This exam takes place twice every year, it's my fourth year" he told us.

"That's not something to boast about" I commented, yeah I didn't like this guy at all!

"That means you know a lot about this exam, right?" Sakura inquired in a hopeful tone.

Kabuto once again replied with a yeah.

Naruto mused "so you must be an expert, Kabuto-san."

"But he hasn't passed" Shikamaru pointed out.

"Exactly what I was thinking" I said agreeing.

Kabuto gave us a shy smile and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that's true" he said with a chuckle.

Shikamaru released a tired sigh, and questioned whether was that difficult.

"Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information then..." he stated and reached into his pouch, he then pulled out a pack of recognition cards.

"What are those?" Sakura questioned.

"In simple terms" he began, "it's a card that has information burned into it using my Chakra." He put the pack on the floor in a neat pile, "I've collected on this exam for the past four years" he informed us and picked up the first card, and placed it on the floor facing up.

"It looks white, but..." he pressed his index finger on the card and released some chakra into it, "to get the information form this card..." the card began to spin around.

"What are you doing?" Sakura quizzed.

"It's made so you can't view it without my chakra" Kabuto simply stated and made a hand sign, "Like this." A puff of smoke burst from the card, and now, a map could be seen on it.

"Wow" spoke Sakura in awe, "what information is this?"

"The exam's total number of examinees and countries participating" Kabuto replied and then added, that it also has the number of participants from each hidden village.

Kabuto then looked up at us "let me ask, why do you think we do the Chuunin Exam together?"

Everyone remained silent, even I didn't know the answer to that one.

"First" he began, "it's to deepen the friendly relationships with the other countries" he stated. "Next, it's to heighten the level of the ninja. That's is what they say."

"That is what they say?" Sasuke repeated, a little confused.

"Yes" Spoke Kabuto, "the real purpose is to confirm the level of ninja in each country to try and balance out the power."

"Power? Balance?" Naruto echoed, "huh?"

"And why do they go through such a troublesome task?" pondered Shikamaru.

As Kabuto put his hand over the card, the map disappeared. "If they don't do that, the weak countries will be invaded and dominated by the strong ones" he told us, "so they need to check and restrain each other's powers… its just my guess, though."

I let out a breath "I suppose that makes sense."

Kabuto nodded "although one particular group has puzzled me, and that's the team from the Village Hidden in the Mountains."

I raised an eyebrow "how so?"

"Well, during the seven years I participated in this exam. This is the first time I've ever seen Beadurincs take a Chuunin exam" he confessed, "It's not often you see them on their pilgrimage outside of their country… they've made people quite anxious."

_'That's because there's a chance they're not on pilgrimage…'_

Kabuto smiled, "I must confess, I've always yearned to meet someone from the Mountain Country… they seem like fascinating people."

Kabuto then chuckled slightly, "so I guess I'm in luck to be afforded that opportunity."

I raised an eyebrow, "what?"

Kabuto hummed in interest "Yes, I know about you. You are a very rare bird in these parts of the world."

I narrowed my eyes slightly "that's not exactly accessible information."

"No, but, I had to gather as much data on the participants as much as possible" he informed me.

I blinked "Data?"

"Are there any cards there that have detailed personal information?" Sasuke suddenly asked, stepping forward.

"Yes" Kabuto answered with a knowing smirk, "is there someone that interests you?"

Sasuke replied with a very stern yes.

Kabuto began to orginise his deck, "the information I have on this exam's examinees are not perfect, but I've burned and saved them. They include the information about the nine of you, as well."

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Due to the fact that there is stuff about me even I don't know. But then again… he could potently have the information I'm seeking.

"Tell me whatever you know about the people you that interest you" he told us, "I'll look it up for you."

"Gaara from the Hidden Village of Sand, Rock Lee from Konoha and Tesuya of Yamakure" Sasuke listed.

I blinked at him in surprise, he wanted information on my cousin?

"Oh" Kabuto buzzed, "you know their names? Then it won't take much time."

As he began setting his cards, I leaned towards Sasuke slightly.

"What are you doing?" I asked in a hush tone.

Sasuke threw me a glance, and whispered "if I'm gonna protect you from that bastard, I want to be prepared."

Once again I pulled a taken back look, I've never seen him so cautious about someone before. I mean think about it, both Gaara and Lee are just a test for Sasuke… they haven't exactly posed as a real threat.

Tesuya, now that was a different can of worms. He has personally threatened to kill me, for reasons any of us have yet to understand. I guess my team weren't kidding when they told be there were afraid of him, hell I was terrified myself.

"I'm doing this for your benefit to" he added, still in a whisper, "there's no doubt in my mind he's gonna come after you during this exam."

Kabuto finally finished prepping, and held three cards in his fingers, "here they are."

"Show me" Sasuke commanded.

Kabuto placed one of the cards on the floor, "First, let's see Rock Lee." He proceeded to flow his chakra in the card like before, causing smoke to appear around it. We all gathered around to look at the little card. It was simple, it had his photo with his age, team members, sensei and the amount of missions he had taken.

"He's one year older than you" Kabuto stated, "Mission experience, 20 D-rank ones and 11 C-rank ones. The squad leader is Guy. His hand-to-hand combat skills have increased dramatically this past year, but his other skills are terrible." He paused, "he got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie Genin, but he didn't take the Chuunin Exam. This is his first time taking it, like you."

"His team is composed of Tenten and Hyuuga Neji" he concluded.

I saw Sakura make an 'o' shape with her mouth, "so that's how you know him" she said to me.

I nodded, Naruto however, seemed a bit puzzled.

"Next, let's see Gaara of the Desert" he announced and set up the next card. "Mission experience, eight C-rank ones and… This is amazing! He did a B-rank mission as a Genin."

_'By Goddess!' _I thought, _'a B-rank at his level?!'_

"He is a foreign ninja and it's his first time taking the exam, so I don't have any more information on him." Kabuto confessed. "But, it seems that he has returned from all of his missions unharmed."

"He did a B-rank mission as a Genin, and was unharmed?" Shikamaru questioned.

"That's extraordinary" I gushed, I mean come on! That is impressive!

Kabuto placed down the final card.

"Okay last one" he announced, "Luckily, Tesuya is quite a rare name, so he shouldn't be hard to find." Tesuya's picture appeared on the card, his expression stoney and lifeless.

"Hm, since he isn't a part of a ninja nation… his lists of missions aren't available" Kabuto observed, "It does say however that he is three years older than you, and his first time taking this exam. I can only assume he is on his pilgrimage."

Kabuto sighed heavily, "unfortunately, Moutaineers are masters of deception, so its practically impossible to gather any data on them."

I can't say that I was surprised, it was impressive that he got Tesuya's age!

It's not called the most isolated country for perks, you know?

Kabuto then produced a fourth card, with another map on it.

"Konoha, Sand, Rain, Mountain, Grass, Waterfall, and sound" he listed. "This year, many talented Genins from these hidden villages have come here to take the exam" he explained, "The Hidden Village of sound is a village of a small country that was just made recently, so I don't have much information on them."

Kabuto then put all his cards away. "Either way" he chirped, "all of them are powerful hidden villages."

"I-I'm starting to lose confidence…" mumble Hinata.

"It's too late to say that!" Ino snapped.

I threw her a threatening look, which shut her up instantly.

"in other words, the examinees here are all?" Sakura began.

"Right…" Kabuto cut in. "It's not only Lee or Gaara or Tesuya. All the people here are top elites chosen from each country."

He sensed Naruto tense up as Kabuto concluded saying that this wasn't easy.

We all fell silence, as we digested his words. Naruto, was now visibly shaking.

"Hey, Naruto" Sakura called, "you don't need to be scared…" But she didn't finish her sentence. I turned to look at her, then at Naruto… noticing his clenched fists, I couldn't help but smirk.

"I think fear is the last thing he's feeling" I remarked.

Naruto then, completely out of the blue, did a battle cry and pointed at everyone in the room with a grin.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced proudly "I'm not going to lose to any of you! GOT THAT!?"

I was now beaming, "see?" I said to my female teammate, "nothing to worry about!"

But Sakura, wasn't amused.

"Hey, what's with him!?" Ino demanded furiously, "what's the point in provoking everyone!?"

"Don't ask me!" Sakura shot back.

"Who else am I supposed to ask!?"

"What did you say!?"

I felt a wet drop form on the back of my head, "you complain about him making a scene, when you're both just as bad."

"Ah that felt good" Naruto sighed and placed his hands behind his head.

"Always the opportunist" I commented.

Naruto grinned at me, "well I gotta let them know who they'll be messing with!"

A lot of gazes were still on us, however… one in particular stood out to me.

My eye's met Gaara's, his stare was so intense I would have probably burst into flames. I tilted my head at him, I wondered what he was think.

Gaara's eyes then shifted to the left, his once emotionless expression twisted slightly in hate. I followed his eye sight and I froze…

Tesuya was standing there, looking at me as if I was a piece of meat. With him were his teammates, who I could now see for the first time.

One member was female. She was quite pretty, with her long, midnight, blue hair and grey eyes. however, she was completely dolled up with her hair in high pony tail and face caked with makeup. Her outfit was just as promiscuous, she wore a tight body suit that showed off her breasts and bottom, a red sash around her slim waist, a white crop top jacket, black cloves, fish nets tights, and thigh high boots.

She had a cocky smirk plastered across her face, "Oh Tesuya!" she dragged out coyly, "she doesn't seem that special to me."

Tesuya didn't pay any attention to her, in fact it was if she wasn't there.

the third member, was another boy, who had a very stern expression on his face and didn't say a word. He was much taller than Tesuya, his purple glazed eyes stared at me through his silver haired fringe. His skin was so pale, I would've have considered him a ghost, or really sick. His outfit was similar to Tesuya's, only his was black with a white cloth and red rope.

The atmosphere began to get very uncomfortable for me. As Sakura grabbed Naruto from behind, yelling at him. I shrunk back a little, and tried my best to blend behind Sasuke.

Sasuke noticed my weird behaviour, but didn't question it when he saw him. In fact, he firmly stood in front of me, blocking me completely from Tesuya's sight.

Both boys glared at each other menacingly.

"My he's a hansome one!" the girl teased, "but he's nothing compared to you Tesuya."

Tesuya smirked and mouthed at Sasuke:

"Protect her all you want little boy, in the end, she will be mine."

Sakura then tried to calm the situation Naruto created, completely unaware of what was happening.

Suddenly, the sound ninja came out and made an attack on Kabuto.

_'What the hell!? Where did they come from!?"_

Kabuto easily dodged it, but that seemed to easy.

And then I heard it, a faint vibration in the air.

Kabuto's glasses shattered, "I see" he retorted taking his glasses off "so that's the kind of attack it was."

"What's going on?" Sasuke implored, "you definitely dodged it, Why did your glass…"

"It must have hit is nose" Shikamaru established "that's what happens for trying to look cool."

I shook my head, "no that's not it."

Both boys stared at me and asked "what was it then?"

but suddenly, Kabuto froze and collapsed to the floor, vomiting.

"Kabuto-san!" Sakura yelled in a panic.

Both her and Naruto rushed to his aid, asking whether he was okay.

"Yeah, I'm okay" he answered with a shaky voice.

"I wouldn't move if I were you" I told him.

"Tomoko-chan? What do you mean?" Naruto gasped.

I narrowed my eyes at the sound ninja who threw the punch, "because if he's done what I think he did, you'll be suffering for a while."

The ninja smirked though his bandages "You're not as good as I thought" he mocked at Kabuto, "for a veteran who took the exam four years running."

"Write this in your card" he teammate sneered, "the three from the Hidden Village of Sound will definitely become Chuunins.

This didn't make sense, at all. It was clear he didn't hit Kabuto, and I swear I heard a slight vibration around him. If my theory is correct, the sound traveled through his eardrum, and to the brain. Even though it was faint, at close contact, the vibrations could deal some serious damage to the ear.

But were did the vibration come from!?

"QUIET DOWN! YOU PUNK!"

suddenly, a large amount of smoke exploded at the front of the classroom. Once the smoke clear, there stood a line of Chuunin ninja, and a large built man in the middle. He was a massive black trent coat and had two thick scars going across his face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting" he said with a smirk, "I am the examiner of the 1st test of the Chuunin Selection Exam, Morino Ibiki."


	32. The First Exam!

**God this was a horrible chapter to write!**

**So sorry it took this long, I've just recently got a new job and that's taking up a lot of my time. **

**I managed to fit two episodes into one chapter, because honestly... Naruto episode are too damn short.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'm starting the next one as we speak.**

* * *

A very uncomfortable vibe took over the room, as we all stared at the new arrivals. Most people were staring at Ibiki, I however, noticed someone standing behind him.

"Haruo?"

Sasuke blinked at me, then followed my gaze. We both could recognise him from a mile away, with his blonde and black hair. Like all the other Chuunins, he wore a grey outfit and his ninja headband around his head.

It was strange, seeing him so serious. As weird as it sounds, I have never witnessed my brother on active duty. And by Sasuke's face, neither had he...

I'll never forget the day Haruo became a Chuunin. He was so proud and happy with himself, the Uchiha's were just as delighted. It wasn't long after that we moved out, and it was just me and him.

"You three, from the hidden Sound Village" Ibiki yelled pointing at them, "don't think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want us to fail you already?"

The guy who attacked Kabuto turned to face the new arrivals. "I'm sorry" he said "I was excited, since this is my first exam."

Ibiki smirked. "This is a good chance to say this" he announced, "you are not allowed to fight each other during the exam, unless given permission by the examiners. Even if permission is given, you are not allowed to kill each other."

His tone then became more menacing, "pigs who go against me will fail immediately. Understood?"

The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Everyone remained silence till the cocky sound ninja spoke.

"This exam seems so soft and easy" he said in a cocky tone.

This caused all the Chuunin to chuckle, even Haruo had a smile on his face.

"We will now begin the first exam of the Chuunin Selection Exam" he declared, "turn in your applications, take one of these numbers tags, and sit where the number tells you to."

I raised an eyebrow, what are the numbers for?

"Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam" he concluded.

My heart dropped, a written exam!?

"Written... papers...?" Naruto repeated slowly.

It was then that one of the Chuunins held up a stack of papers, which caused me and Naruto to freak.

"A paper test!?" he screeched.

I held my head low "I'm so screwed."

Suddenly someone cleared their throats, looking up I noticed it was Haruo.

"Ibiki-sepai" he said.

Ibiki stared at him, but then gave him a nod.

Haruo then stepped forward. "Hello" he greeted, "my name is Mori Haruo, Chuunin and specialist advisor regarding the Hidden Mountain Village." He proceeded to hold in the air, four pieces of paper in the air.

"Those who are from the Hidden Mountain village, I have carefully translated the exam paper to your language" he told us.

I blinked a couple of times "specialist? Haruo... is a specialist?"

"Those whose first language is Yamakurism, raise your hand" he ordered.

Immediately, Tesuya and his teammates raised their hands. Haruo stared at them long and hard, and mentally counted the hands. His eyes then landed on me, and raised an eyebrow.

"Anyone else?" he pressed.

Sasuke threw me a curious look, as if to say 'why-aren't-you-taking-this-advantage'.

But something didn't seem right about this, if I put my hand up, my origin would be exposed to everyone. And honestly, what if Yamakure had sent more than Tesuya and his team? It was too risky, for me and my team.

I slowly turned my head away, closing my eyes.

I could feel Haruo narrowed eyes on me, but he said nothing on the matter. Instead he cleared his throat and let Ibiki carry on. The examiners led us all to our seats, with papers in hand.

All the Chuunin sat around us, holding clipboards. Quickly scanning the area, I realised that I was well away from my teammates. I noticed Naruto in the middle of the room, looking incredibly panicked. But I then noticed who was sitting next him and talking to him, and grinned.

'_Luck is on your side Hinata' _I thought, at least someone could enjoy this. About two rows behind them, was Sakura.

I knew without a doubt she would thrive in this test, she was the best at it after all. I was sat three rows behind her to her far right. Glancing to my left, I finally found Sasuke. He was sat on row in front of me, to the middle left. Sasuke probably wouldn't struggle much, he is a Uchiha after all.

Suddenly, I heard chalk make contact with a blackboard. "This exam has a few rules" Ibiki told us "I will not accept any questions, so listen carefully."

'_This guy is so intense, its unnerving.'_

Ibiki started writing on the blackboard as he explained the rules. The first rule is that we are all given 10 points at the start, the written exam consists of 10 questions, each question is worth one point.

"This test is a deduction based test" elucidated, "If you get one problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. If you get three problems wrong your points will be reduced to 7."

I guess that made sense, but I wondered how many answers you had to get right to pass this test.

The second rule, "the pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points."

I blinked a couple of times, "oh shit" I muttered.

"Wait!" Sakura screamed in a fury "Your team's total points? What!?"

"Shut up!" Ibiki shot back sternly, and full of assertion "there is a reason for this. Just shut up and listen."

He stated that he was now going to reveal the final rule.

"If an examiner determines that you cheated or do something similar during the test... Each action will cause you to lose two points."

I narrowed my eyes, and continued to listen.

"In other words" he stated simply "there will be people who will be forced to leave this place, without their tests being graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves."

One Chuunin smirked, "We'll 'check' you at any time."

This is an incredibly high pressured situation, I couldn't help but think this was a little extreme for a written exam.

"You are all trying to become Chuunin" said Ibiki "If you are ninja, act like a first-rate one."

'_Act like a first-rate ninja?'_ I thought _'what the heck does that mean?'_

"Also" spoke Ibiki, interrupting my thoughts "if anyone in a team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail."

I held my head in my hand, god damn it! Why didn't I take the translated paper!? WHY!?

But that's not all my team had to worry about, there was also the fact that Naruto was notorious in failing all written exams.

"The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins" notified Ibiki "you have one hour for the exam."

After about three minutes, he yelled begin and the echo of turning papers filled the room. I however, didn't touch mine. I carefully scanned the area again, taking note of everyone furiously scribbling own their test papers.

'_There's a catch to this test.'_ I thought, but I wasn't going to get anywhere without at least attempting to read it. Slowly I flipped my paper over, staring at it, I attempted to read the first question.

'_A cipher, at least from what I can read.'_

I decided to leave that question for now, and move on the next one. This was an action I repeated with every question, not because I couldn't exactly read it, because I could, just not as well as most people in this exam.

'_The questions get harder, and even the first one is ridiculously complex.' _

I had now read all nine questions, and came to one conclusion...

I couldn't understand a single one.

I glanced at the examiners to my right, all holding clipboards and watching us like hawks watches a snake.

**Tap tap tap**

The scribble of a pencil to a board echoed in my eyes, looks like someone got caught. Hearing that made me remember that it was two point deduction if you're caught cheating. But surely, if you're discovered cheating once, that bad enough.

'_It's almost as if they want us to cheat' _I joked silently.

Wait...

"_**Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves. You are all trying to become Chuunin. If you are ninja, act like a first-rate one."**_

Of course... OF COURSE! This wasn't a test on our knowledge! It was a test on our data gathering, they want us to cheat... without getting caught!

'_Ninja need to think beyond normal' _I thoughts echoed, _'the examiner wants us to cheat and think it through carefully.'_ The two point deduction now made sense, it was to put us under pressure and test us on how we cope with difficult situations.

I hoped that Naruto would be able to figure this out, otherwise we'd be in the dog house!

But I couldn't dwell on that, I had to figure out a way to gather information. Placing my index finger on the side of my face, and my thumb under my chin, I carefully scanned to area.

_'So who knows the answers to this test?' _

My eyes fell on a certain boy two rows to my right, I could tell from his shoulders that he was writing furiously.

_'Target locked' _I thought _'now how to steal his data.'_

I closed my eyes, listening to my surroundings. The tapping and scratching of pencils rang against my eardrum, this person was a very quick writer… making it impossible to tell what he was writing.

My sense of hearing was good, but not that good.

But then I could hear something else, a voice… but it wasn't very clear.

_'Who is that? It's not the person writing' _I questioned, _'and who would be stupid enough to mumble the answers?'_

Unless… it was someone who was…. trying to give out the answers.

I focused a little harder, trying to pin point were the mumbling was coming from. It was coming from the row in front of me, to the middle left… wait…

I opened my eyes and glanced in the mumble's direction, and at the person who was doing it.

_'Sasuke?' _I thought in astonishment, now that I found the source, the mumbling was much clearer. To anyone else, he would just be making noises, but with someone who had very sharp hearing… it was as clear as a song.

But how did he know the answers? Even he would struggle with these questions.

But my questioning soon stopped, when he glanced slightly in my direction, and I saw a flash of crimson.

_'The Sharingan? Of course!' _

I couldn't help but smile slightly, Sasuke was risking everything to help me in this exam...

_'Thank you Sasuke… I owe you one.'_

I carefully listened to the answers that he was mumbling in the air. From observing the Chuunin, they had yet to notice any of this. I'm glad, the last thing I wanted is for Sasuke to fail us because I couldn't read properly.

That would be really bad.

I glanced up at the clock, we were near the 45 minute mark, which meant that we would soon be given the tenth and final question. I began to wonder what this question would require from us.

"What's the meaning of this!?" one Genin yelled standing up, I glanced at this paper to see that a kunai had been thrown at this desk.

The Chuunin who threw it, smirked, and said "you messed up five times, you fail."

turns out it was Kotetsu, one of Haruo's friends and comrades.

"What?" the Genin gasped.

Kotetsu showed no mercy and ordered him and his teammates to leave.

"Number 32, fail."

I blinked.

"Number 43 and 27, fail."

As each number was called, three people at the time were forced to leave the exam. Few tried to resist, but it was a wasted effort.

"Hey, man" one Genin shouted furiously. "Do you have any proof that I cheated five times!?"

I looked up to see he was talking directly at Haruo, who just smirked and the Genin continued to complain. Then, as quick as a flash, he was elbowed in the throat and held against the wall.

I stared in surprise, I never knew Haruo was that fast. "Listen to me" he began, dead serious, "We are Chuunin that were chosen for this exam, elites, so to say." Haruo then held his hand in a mountain fist and held it above his forehead "we won't miss a single thing you do, my strength and speed is the proof."

Finally he released the Genin and ordered him to leave. Everyone's eyes were trained on him, looks like Haruo's actions effected everyone. Hell, even he made me slightly nervous.

Haruo threw everyone a stern glare, which hastily cause everyone's focus to be back on their paper.

* * *

Throughout this exam, more people have been caught, and failed immediately for cheating. Funnily enough, none of us rookies got caught, nor did the sand ninja, the sound ninja and even Tesuya and his team.

Hell, even Naruto survived, but that's probably because he hasn't touched his paper.

"Okay" Announced Ibiki "I will now announce the tenth question."

'_Finally This is it!'_

"Yes, but before that, I need to tell you about the special rule that comes with this question." He told us.

Another rule? You've got to be kidding me! Enough with the curve balls already!

Suddenly, the main door swung open and in walked Kanuro, returning from his bathroom break from earlier.

Ibiki smirked "You're lucky, your puppet didn't have to go to waste."

'_Puppet?' _I questioned turning in my seat to look at the sand ninja, _'what puppet?'_

Kanuro threw the examiner a very surprised look, but none the less sat back down when he was told to.

Ibiki took a step forward, looking more imitating than ever "I will now explain. This is a hopeless rule."

'_A hopeless rule? What the heck does that mean?'_

"First..." he began "you are all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth problem or not."

'_We have a choice not to take it? That's a little weird' _

"Choose?" the female sand ninja yelled, I think her name was Temari, "so what happens if we don't take the tenth problem?"

"If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero" Ibiki answered, "in other words you fail. Your two other teammates, will fail along with you."

Everyone was outraged, utterly confused as to why they'd do that. But if I had learnt anything these past few months... is that...

There's always a catch.

"And here is the other rule" he warned, "If you choose to take it and you get it wrong, you will... Lose the privilege to take the Chuunin Exam forever!"

I gulped, this isn't good.

"What kind of stupid rule is that!?" Kiba challenged furiously, whilst standing up and pointing, I'm surprised Akamaru didn't fall off his head it was so sudden.

"There should be those here who have taken the Chunnin Exam in the past!" he complained, his dog barking in agreement.

Ibiki couldn't contain his chuckled "you were unlucky, this year I am the rule."

Kiba was finally silent, as Ibiki continued to explain that because of the second rule, he has given us the option to quit.

"Those who are not confident can choose to not take it, and take the exam next year, or the year after that" he concluded, chuckling all the way.

I couldn't help but clench my fists on the desk, this had become a very difficult situation, not that it wasn't already! If even only one member of a team got the answer wrong, all teammates would lose opportunity to become a Chuunin.

This exam has been nothing but a total mind-fuck, putting us under this amount of stress... seems a little farfetched for a written exam and our data gathering.

Unless, there was something else they were testing us on.

"Let us begin" spoke Ibiki in a very calm voice, only it brought great discomfort to me. "Those who will not be taking this tenth question, raise your hands" he ordered, "after we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave."

Closing my eyes, I tried my best to analyse the situation.

'_Two choices' _I thought _'request to leave, and take exam again. Or stay and take the risk of losing your chance of becoming a Chuunin.'_

This question is quite a gamble, even for me. However, I'm not here to become a Chuunin, I could care less right now. My main focus is Tesuya, and finding out my past.

But then again, I also had to think about my team. Because achieving the next rank did mean something to them, especially Naruto.

'_Naruto...'_

He has already been under enough stress as it is, and with this new stipulation... anyone could crack. But I know Naruto isn't a selfish guy, he wouldn't want to risk failing myself, Sakura and Sasuke failing.

"I..." someone spoke raising his hand and standing "I quit! I won't take it."

I opened his eyes to look at him, that didn't take long. After that they all dropped like flies, raising their hands, humiliated as their numbers were called, and failed.

I tsked under my breath. What horrible circumstances they've but us through, it's almost torture.

I light bulb switched in my head, could this be... just some psychological trial, that they wanted to see whether we had the mental capability to face such a challenge?

Maybe there wasn't a question?

'_Wait a second' _I told myself _'you're getting way ahead of yourself Tomoko, get back to the situation at hand.'_

I looked around the room to see none of my teammates had raised their hands, Sakura however, was staring intently at Naruto's back.

But then I noticed the person sat behind her... smirking.

Tesuya looked like he was almost enjoying this, that creep is probably enjoying watching everyone squirm.

Noticing someone was staring at him, he glanced back at me, throwing a menacing grin as he did it.

Anger boiled inside of me, but I then shifted my gaze to Naruto.

'_Naruto... what will you do?'_

Sakura then slowly began raising her hand, was she gonna quit on his behalf?

But she stopped, as Naruto shakily raised his hand.

I sighed, as disappointed as I was, I understood. Naruto didn't want to take the chance of never becoming a Chuunin, his dream was to become Hokage...

'_At least we'll get another chance...'_

Suddenly, a massive slam shook the room, making me jump.

"Screw you!" screamed Naruto "I'm not going to run away!"

I blinked a couple of times, did he really just tell the examiner to get screwed?

"I'll take on this problem!" he declared "even if I become a Genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what anyway!" He then stood up.

"I'm not scared!" he finally shouted, and sat back down.

Slowly my mouth curved into a smile.

'_No matter what eh? You got guts Uzamaki Naruto... and I respect you for that.'_

"I will ask one more time" said Ibiki "this is the choice that will impact your life."

If Naruto isn't backing down, I'm certainly not gonna chicken out.

"If you want to quit, now is the time."

But no one else budged, seems we all made up our minds.

"I'm not going to take back my words" affirmed Naruto confidently "that is my way of the ninja."

I could hear Ibiki chuckling, clearly amused.

I noticed the other Chuunin nodding with a little smile on their faces, something was going on.

"Nice determination" the head examiner complimented "Then... for the first exam, everyone here..."

He paused, breaking into a grin.

"Passes!"

'_I knew it!'_

"Wait" Sakura spluttered standing up "what's the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki couldn't contain his laughter "there was no such thing to begin with" he chimed, "or you can call the two-choice question the tenth question."

"Hey!" yelled Temari furiously "so what were those previous nine problems for?! It was all a waste!"

"No it's not" Ibiki answered "the nine problems accomplished their purpose. The purpose is to test each individual's information gathering skills."

'_Just as I thought, they didn't give a damn whether we got the answers wrong or not.'_

Ibiki explained that the test's purpose lied in the first rule, the pass-fail decision is based on your teammates. By giving us that idea, we were given an unprecedented amount of pressure to try and not be any trouble to our team.

"Yes, yes" mused Naruto "I was kinda sensing that."

I threw him a very unamused look, _'you little liar.'_

Ibiki continued to state that the test problems could not be solved at our level, resulting in most of us coming to the conclusion that we had to cheat.

"Well yeah, that was a no brainer" I mumbled.

"In other words" Ibiki began simply "this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So, we snuck in two Chuunins who knew the answers to be targets of cheating."

"Hahaha!" laughed Naruto "it was so obvious. It would be weird not to notice it, right Hinata?"

I felt a wet drop on the back of my head "no you didn't."

"But those who just cheated like a fool failed, of course, why?" Ibiki stated, he then proceed to remove his bandanna.

My eyes widened, as I looked upon the scars, burnt marks and drill holes around his head.

"Information can have greater value than life at times" he explained, "and in missions and battlefields... information is contested with the lives of people."

This just goes to show that we really have no clue what goes on behind the scenes, in the world of ninja.

"The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third will not necessarily be accurate" he informed us as he tied his bandana back on his head. "Remember this, getting incorrect information can cause great damage to your teammates and village. So we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those who were lacking in that field, that's what went on."

"But I still can't agree to that last question..." complained Temari.

"But this tenth question was the main question of this first exam" Ibiki rebutted.

Sakura questioned what he meant, so Ibiki explained that the tenth question was a 'take or not take choice'. So basically, we were given two very painful decisions, those who didn't take it, failed with their team. Those who chose to take it, but could not answer it, would have the right to take the exam away from them.

It was a very well calculated, insincere problem.

"The ability to show your courage to your teammates when needed, and the ability to get through a bad situation..." Ibiki asserted "that is what we look for in a Chuunin, a squad leader. Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation... those who give when given the chance because there is a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future. Fools who only carry a light determination like that have no right to become a Chuunin" he concluded "that is what I believe."

I scanned the room and my eyes fell on my brother, who glanced back at me. Giving me a cheeky grin, he threw a wink as if to say "I'm pround of ya sis."

I smiled back, I guess I really could do this... as long as I don't get any unexpected surprises.

CRASH!

Something flew through the window nearest Ibiki, and in a flash, a massive banner was pinned to the ceiling, with a woman standing in front of it.

"Everybody" she blurted "there's no time to be happy! I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko!"

Me and my big mouth, so much for no surprises.

"Let's go to the next exam!" she ordered loudly and threw a fist in the air "Follow me!"

No words could really describe this woman, except that she reminded me a lot of Naruto... and that's a worry.

"78?" Anko noted "Ibiki, you let 26 teams pass? The first exam must have been too soft."

"It looks like there are a lot of excellent students this time" Ibiki chimed.

Anko laughed slightly "Oh, well... I'm going to make more than half of the teams fail in the next exam."

Not gonna lie, but that made me feel uncomfortable.

"I will explain the details tomorrow" she announced "we will go somewhere else, so ask your Jounin teachers about the rally point and time. That is all. Dismissed."


	33. Hells gate! Haruo's Bedroom!

**So... Hi guys...**

**I know I know! Its been a stupidly long time since I've updated, and I am so sorry about that.**

**Next chapter will be the start of the second exam... and where things will get very interesting.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you all for sticking by.**

**NOTE: The chapter has been edited since its a original post... And I am much happier with it.**

* * *

As we left the classroom, I released a heavy sigh "That was intense" I muttered.

Naruto laughed "oh it wasn't that bad!"

I threw him a glare "oh please, I bet you didn't even touch that paper."

"I wrote my name on it!"

I giggled "oh that's such an achievement."

Suddenly, I felt someone leaning their arm on the top of my head, as if I were a table.

"You did good in there kid" Haruo complimented.

I stared up at him, not really sure what to say to that.

"I guess... I was wrong" he admitted "you're more than ready for this exam..." he then looked at the rest of my team "you all are."

Sakura smiled "Thank you Haruo-kun!"

"Yeah thanks" Naruto piped in.

Sasuke remained silent, which was probably a wise move.

"By the way" I spoke, removing Haruo's arm from my head "was it really appropriate for you to be an examiner?"

"Hm? Why? Did you have a problem with it?" Haruo queried.

"Well no..." I admitted "but they must have known that I'm you're sister."

"Of course they did" Haruo answered "to an extent, you're right I wasn't suppose to be in that exam. However, at the last minute... three Beadurincs entered the exams."

"So, you were called in as their translator?" Sakura asked.

"I guess you could say that" Haruo replied.

And speak of the devils, out came Tesuya and his team.

Now things were getting really uncomfortable, as they walked over to us.

"**geþancian for úre filstan Kenelm **(thank you for your help Kenelm)**."**

'_Kenelm?'_

Haruo smiled but his eyes deceived him **"Eádga æt, ac ic fragian ðu ne æt onmæ mec eac sé titul **(Happy to, but I must ask you not to address me with that title).**"**

'_Title?'_

Tesuya smirked "old habits die hard, but I'll respect your wishes" he said with a bow, "we shall leave you and your darling sister alone... for now."

He shot me one more look, before leaving with his team.

An awkward silence hung in the air... and Haruo was blissfully unaware of it, or he was a marvellous pretender.

"It's good see some of our own kind" he said pleasantly "I hope their pilgrimage goes well."

"But, Haruo-kun" Sakura cut in "they're not on their-"

"What does Kenelm mean?"

Haruo threw Sasuke an unreadable look, he was probably surprised that he cut Sakura off she easily.

"Kenelm is an olden name" I answered "right Aaron?"

Haruo narrowed his eyes at us, "they are names, nothing more."

"But why haven't I heard you being called Kenelm before? And Kendra?"

"I thought I told you not to pursue that name!"

I flinched at his harsh tone, "Well... yeah... but..."

"Tomoko!" he cut in sternly "I'll say this for the last time, to all of you. Put. That. Name. Out. Of. Mind!"

I sighed heavily, it was obvious that Haruo wasn't budging.

"Are you going to be present for the second exam Aaron?" I asked, changing the subject.

Haruo seemed to chirp up a little "sadly no, and I'm afraid that's all I can tell you."

I smiled at him "I understand, we'll be going now."

"Alright" he piped in "I'm afraid I won't be home till late tonight."

After saying bye to him, me and the rest of my team began to leave. Once we left the building, I gazed up into the setting sun, were we in there for that long?

"Hey" Sakura called "why didn't tell your brother what's really going on?"

Naruto made a "huh" sound in confusion, not sure what she was on about.

I remained silent as I stared up into the sky, but she continued to question me.

"Tesuya is dangerous, and could use Haruo against you!" she issued "you have to tell him!"

I stopped walking "Haruo isn't an idiot."

"What?"

Sasuke turned to face her "did you notice how tense he got when he was called **Kenelm**?"

Sakura blinked, as if remembering it in her head.

"Huh, I'm really confused" commented Naruto.

"Don't worry about it Naruto" I told him "its nothing worth getting a headache over." I then turned around to face Sakura "Haruo is already suspicious of them, and is probably keeping an eye on them."

"He... he is?" she questioned.

I nodded, "his superiors have probably ordered to keep an eye on them, I can't say I blame them."

"Or he's just pretending the problem isn't there" Sasuke suggested.

I shrugged "if my brother wants to hold on the belief, that I'm some innocent little twit. He's gonna be disappointed." And with that I began walking again... even though there was a possibility that Sasuke could be right. I was sure, in my heart, Haruo was aware of what was going on, and I couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something.

My Brother was a master at keeping secrets, which is probably what made him such a fantastic ninja. However, he can never fool me...

"Hey."

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Sasuke.

"Since Haruo won't be around tonight, do you want me to stick around your place?"

I blinked, "pardon?"

"Just hear me out" he reasoned "Tesuya only tries to get to you when your own. When Haruo was here, Tesuya barely paid you any attention, and when I turned up that night... he fled."

Oh I understood what he meant, strength in numbers... or something like that.

"Are you sure?" I asked "don't feel like you have to stick around."

Sasuke let out a hm sound "I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't."

"Oh so we're all staying at Tomoko's house tonight!" Naruto butted in happily.

"What?" Sasuke gasped "no I didn't mean-"

"That's a great idea!" Sakura chimed "that's if its alright with you Tomoko?"

I smiled nervously "er... yeah... I guess."

"Great!" she cheered, "I've always wanted to see your house!"

I sighed deeply, this was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Alright!" I ordered as I walked into my house "don't touch anything, Haruo keeps a lot of valuables and will have my head if they are broken."

"Alright!" Naruto hooted running inside, Sakura following him.

"And stay away from the fridge Naruto!" I ordered, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears as I could hear him going through my cupboards.

I let out a heavy breath, and Sasuke closed the front door.

"Such an idiot" he grumbled, walking further in the house "we better figure out what to eat before he trashes the kitchen."

I stayed back to lock the door and walked into the kitchen, irritation crept into me as I saw Naruto's head poking in my fridge. Immediately I grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him back.

"What did I just say?!" I snapped, feeling a vein pop in my forehead.

Naruto cried out in fear and began saying sorry repeatedly, gradually I let go of him and walked to the fridge.

"Go sit down and shut up! I'll make something now!" I barked at him.

Naruto begrudgingly left, leaving me alone.

"Now" I said, staring into the fridge, "what can I whip up quickly."

I noticed some tuna steaks in the back, grabbing them and closing the fridge door, I studied them.

"Need any help?"

I looked up to see Sakura standing in the doorway.

"Er" I breathed "yeah sure, although I don't really know what I'm doing just yet."

"Why don't you fry them with some vegetables?" she suggested.

"Naruto hates vegetables."

Sakura let out a very defeated laugh "oh yeah... how could I forget."

I studied the steaks for a little longer, "I suppose I could do some rice and noodles on the side... then all they have to do is pick and choose."

"Sounds like plan" Sakura agreed.

"HEY WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!" Naruto suddenly whined from the living room "I'M WASTING AWAY HERE!"

The sound of a punch echoed down the hall.

"OW! WHY'D YA HIT ME!?"

"Because you're a moron" Sasuke answered sounding very annoyed.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle, whilst all I could do was shake my head...

Yep I was right, this was going to be a very long night.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes, the food was ready and we were all sat in a circle eating... well everyone but me was. I was too caught up in my thoughts about today's events.

"So what do you think the next exam is gonna be?" Sakura asked generally.

Naruto pulled a very scared look "hopefully not a written one."

"Oh?" Sakura teased "what happened to that confidence, wasn't the test a piece of cake for you?"

"Y-yeah it was!" he spluttered "I just didn't want you guys to worry about me!"

Sakura huffed "yeah right..."

"You've been awfully quiet..."

It took while to realise that Sasuke was talking to me, "sorry what?"

With a raised eyebrow he repeated what he said, Sakura and Naruto were still talking amongst themselves.

"Oh sorry" I mumbled "I'm just... trying to process everything that's happened so far."

Sasuke gave me a knowing look, "who would've thought he would be your cousin."

"My cousin... who wants to kill me..." I said solemnly.

That statement silenced everyone, and caused them to stare at me.

Well that's one way to ruin a moment of peace.

"Ah sorry" I said to everyone "ignore me... I've... "

But then a light bulb went off in my head, "I gotta check something out."

I didn't give them a chance to question me, as I shot up to my feet and ran up stairs. It just hit me... Haruo had a load of old books on Yamakure and Mountain culture, why didn't I think about it before!?

'_Because you're banned from Haruo's bedroom.'_

Oh yeah, but Haruo isn't here! This is the perfect chance to see what I could find.

Swinging the door open, I hastily entered his bedroom and was greeted by mountains of clutter and a very bad smell.

That punk, he has the nerve to complain about my bedroom, when his was disgusting. As I waved the bad odours away with my hand, my eyes landed on the massive bookcase.

"Bingo!"

Stepping over all the junk on the floor, I reached the bookcase, and immediately started looking through the books. Any that didn't help, which was the majority, I just flung behind me onto the floor... at least they had a soft landing.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked as he cautiously entered the room, and dodged a few flying books here and there.

"No wonder you're not allowed in here" I heard him remark. Once again, without looking I chucked a book over my head, not realising it was aimed right at my best friend. Thankfully, he had the skill and agility to catch it.

"_**Dúnælf Reccung sylfum sé Stán**_(fairy tales of the Stone)" he read out loud, "I remember this one."

"What is it Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura as she entered the room, grimacing as she went along.

Sasuke didn't look at her, he gaze remained firmly on the book in his hand.

I cease what I was doing for a moment "it's a children's book" I answered turning my head to her, "its also the first book I used to teach Sasuke how to speak Yamakurism."

Sakura gazed at the raven-haired boy longingly "wow Sasuke-kun! I bet you picked it up really fast!"

"Actually it took him a few months to master" I stated with a small smirk.

Sasuke huffed whilst still flicking through the children's book, "I'll say this in response to that, teaching you to read was a nightmare."

I couldn't help but laugh that his remark, and also said 'jerk' in my first tounge.

Sakura pulled a curious expression"Why did you want to learn the language Sasuke-kun?"

he shrugged "there was no particular reason."

"Oh Sasuke-kun!" She gushed "there's no need to be shy about it!"

I felt wetdrop from on the back of my head, _'who said he was shy about it?'_

"You still haven't told me what you're doing" stated Sasuke, completely ignoring her stupid prattling.

I Went back to rummaging through the bookcase, "to be honest... I'm not sure. I'm just acting on a feeling."

"Whoah this place is seriously a mess!" Naruto spoke in astonishment.

Once again I flung a book over my head, Sakura and Sasuke managed to dodge it... Naruto... not so much, as it landed right in his face.

"HEY!" he bellowed storming towards me "watch where you... whoah!" He never had time to finish his rant. Because he slipped on a piece of clothing, and fell, very dramatically I might add, back into Haruo's wardrobe.

The rest of us stared at him in surprise, whilst Naruto practically had stars flying around his head.

"Well..." he said in a light, dazed tone "it can't get any worst..."

But it did, as something very heavy fell from the top of the wardrobe, onto the top of the blonde's head.

Lets just say, he was sporting a nice sized lump on the crown of his head.

But back to the matter atmhand,Sakura was the first to reach the object. "Its..." she started as she picked it up, "a book? Ah heavy one!" She opened it from the middle, her head scanning left and right as she read it. "I can't read what it says... but it looks like some form of documentation."

Sasuke took the book from her and read it himself "this book is old..." he stated "very old..."

I stood up straight and watched him read it. One thing was for sure, the book was on the verge of falling apart. The pages were stained and faded with age, and the binding was tearing away.

Sasuke was treating it very delicately, probably because he was afraid it would crumble to ashes if handled wrong.

"Can you read it Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke didn't answer her, instead he turned to me "I think its a record book of your family."

I raised my eyebrow at him "how can you tell?"

"Because there are a load of dates, and the Name Mori is continuously written down."

As I got closer to him, he asked me whether I'd seen this before.

I shook my hea. As took the book from him, and flicked to the very first page. I never realised how far my family tree dated back! And according to this book, as I turned the fragile pages, my family tree began way before the first Hokage came to power.

"Why would Haruo hide your family records from you?" Naruto asked slowly as he got out of the wardrobe.

"I... don't know..."

And that's when I saw it, Mori Tesuya scribbled in ink. But that's not what caught my eye... next to his birth name... was an olden name.

"_**Wardle?**_" I read out loud. I then noticed my mothers name, and next to her birth name, was another olden one.

**Lufu.**

I turned the page again, and saw Haruo's name and what Tesuya called him... **Kenlem.**

Then, completely out of no where, the book suddenly felt very hot.

Myself and Sakura, could help but scream as the book suddenly burst into flames.

"Tomoko drop the book!" Naruto ordered and managed to knock it out of my hands. Once it crashed onto the floor, he use his foot to put out the fire.

All we could do was stare at the black ashes that spread across the floor.

"What did you do?!" Sakura asked shakily.

"I..." I began, nearly at a lost for words "I don't know... I just touched it... I... I..."

"It's alright Tomoko-chan" Naruto tried to reassure.

"No its not alright!" I cried hysterical "books don't suddenly set on fire!" I stared at my violently shaking hands, at the Vambrace...

Was it because of them that the book Burnt to a crispt? That had to be it! Both Sakura ans Sasuke handled the book just fine...

"This... T-this Vambrace" I spluttered, my eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"Tomoko-chan" I heard Naruto say sadly.

I began clutching my head "why is this happening!?" I wailed. "Why won't they let me remember my past!?"

Sakura told me to calm down. But I shook my head "I can't take this for much longer, I need to know who I am... I need... to confront the woman covered in..."

I couldn't finish my sentence, because I suddenly found it very hard to breathe.

"Oh shit" I heard Sasuke curse loudly and immediately came to my side.

"What's wrong with her!?" Naruto demanded.

"Panic attack" he affirmed "she use to get them a lot when she first came here. Nowadays, it takes a lot to set them off." I felt Sasuke placed both hands on my shoulders. "Tomoko, you need to calm down" He told me sternly.

As I stared up into his black eyes, I felt more reassured and my breathing slowed down. I couldn't tell you why, but Sasuke always had a nack of bringing me back to my senses. Even when we were kids, I always felt safe around him, reassured that nothing bad would happen.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded, "yeah..." I replied cradling my forehead. "Aw man!" I groaned "how embarrassing, I haven't had one of them since I was six!"

feeling very sorry for myself, I left the room... I needed some fresh air.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura breathed "that was amazing! You knew exactly what to do."

Sasuke didn't saying, he just stared at the pile of ash on the floor.

"Is she alright?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

Again Sasuke didn't say a word, instead he just left the room, to check on his friend.

* * *

"Go away!" I yelled as I heard a knock on door bedroom door.

"It's me."

"Never met someone called 'Me' so buzz off."

Sasuke walked into the room with an amused look on his face. "We'll your becoming yourself being because you're being sarcastic."

"Sasuke…" I moaned.

"Hm?" He breathed looking at star and sat next me on my windowsill.

I shook my head, what was the point, he wasn't gonna leave me alone even if I punched him.

But I had to admit, Sasuke has stuck by my side through all of this, he was the only one who really understood.

"Thanks" I mustered.

Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned back on the wall "don't worry about it."

"God damn it Sasuke!" I snapped "quit it!"

Sasuke threw me a look, as if to say what's your damage?'

I growled at him "you're being way too amazing about all this!"

"hang on" Sasuke cut in "why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you!" I barked "just... I don't know! Get annoyed at me, tell me I'm completely you my rocker!"

Sasuke sighed loudly and said, in a very calm tone:

"You are by far, the most complex, off your head, insane girl I think I've ever met. This whole situation is irritating the hell out of me, worrying everyone else and stressing you out. I'm beginning to despise those things on your arms and I want to punch your moron of a brother in the face!"

I was baffled, and it seemed to be very clear from my expression.

"Did that meet your expectation?" He queried casually.

I couldn't help it, I burst into fits of laughter. I wasn't what he said, it was the way he said it. Not to mention he was taking it all in his stride.

"I wasn't expecting that, but at least you're happier now" he remarked.

Finally calming down, but letting out a few more giggles, I managed to form a sentence.

"Still to this day, you continue to surprise me" I told him.

I could see him pull a small smirk "I could say the same thing about you." He then stood up, "now I'm going bed sleep, try not to have any nightmares... Otherwise I will getting angry at you."

I grinned "I'll certainly try."


	34. Welcome to the Forest of Death

It was the morning, I hardly slept a wink... Especially after that incident with the book catching on fire.

Oh how I wished I read the book before Tomoko did, then she'd might have some answers to her past. There wasn't a doubt in my mind, it was the vambrace that activated the flames.

Naruto's loud snores echoed through the living room, which became our make shift bedroom for the evening. I stared up at the ceiling, wondering if there was any way to actually shut the idiot up. But that would mean waking him, causing even more noise. Not being able to handle the dope's annoying wheezing any longer, I got up from the couch, dressed for the day and headed upstairs.

"Oh Sasuke-kun!" Chimed Sakura as she exited Tomoko's bedroom, "good morning!"

"Yeah good morning" I replied "is she awake?"

Sakura shook her head, "she didn't sleep well last night..."

"After what happened, I can't say I'm surprised."

Sakura pulled a worried expression, and stared back at the door "Sasuke-kun, why do you think this is happening?"

I didn't answer her, because even if I could take a guess... I couldn't think of any particular reason why.

"It really isn't fair is it?" Stated Sakura sadly, "over these past few months, I've really gotten to know her a little better."

I raised my eyebrow at her, what was she getting at?

"She's a good person" she asserted "she brings out the best in people..."

I stared down at my feet, "she's always had that gift."

Sakura let out a questioning hum.

"It's hard to explain, but for as long as I can remember she has had this unique ability of getting past people's defences."

Sakura blinked, not really sure what to make of this "now that I think about it, she was able to get that sand ninja's attention without really doing much."

"Exactly" I confirmed. "It's her greatest strength, but also her weakness."

"What do you mean?"

I scratched the back of my head "as impressive as it is, it's not always gonna help. In fact, its already caused her problems... Tesuya knows what he's doing, and he seems to know Tomoko better than she does herself." I couldn't help but clench my fist "I'm sick of all the secretary, stuff like this really pisses me off!"

Suddenly, Haruo's door swung open, and out walked the man in question, looking very groggy.

"Oh sorry Haruo-kun!" Sakura gasped "were we too loud?"

Haruo waved his hand dismissively "no, no. I had to get up to pick up those mountain ninja..."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Sakura go wake up Naruto, we're leaving."

"Oh okay" Sakura replied slightly stunned at my harshness. As she disappeared down the stairs, I kept my eyes set on Haruo.

"So did you find what you were looking for?" He asked cooly.

I jolted slightly, how did he know?!

"The smell of burning paper gave it away" he answered my silent question.

I tsked under my breath, "I'm going to wake her up." I turned my back to him and placed my hand on the door handle.

"Sasuke!"

I paused my actions, freezing on the spot.

"You have to understand, All I'm doing is protecting her."

"You've got to be kidding me!?" I spat, my glare burning holes into the door.

"I know you must think I'm just being an over-protective older brother, maybe that's what I am" he confessed. "But please, listen to me when I say... If she continues to chase her past... She'll never be the same again. If you care-"

"What will happen? What will change?" I demanded turning to face him "can you at least give me the decency to tell me that?"

Haruo cringed, and replied with a very hesitant no.

"Typical!" I snapped.

"It not like I don't want to, believe me! I wish I could be open about this" Haruo shot back defensively "but I can't... its... too dangerous."

Finally getting fed up with his excuses, I snapped.

"She's keeps seeing a woman covered in blood!"

Haruo threw me a baffled look, "what?"

"Every time she tries to remember her past, she sees a woman covered in blood... And it's getting increasingly worse. If you were around more, you'd notice that! But you're not, you're as secretive as ever!"

Not wanting to argue anymore, I opened the door and entered the room, leaving a very shocked Haruo in the hallway.

* * *

"Wake up."

I began to stir from my slumber, groggily I sat up up a stretched my arms.

"Wha... What's going on?" I grumbled.

Opening my eyes, I saw Sasuke staring at me from my doorway.

"Idiot, its morning... we have the second exam today?"

Glancing at the time, I did a double take... it was now nine am...

"SHIT!"

However, in my panic I ended up losing my balance and crash landing onto my hard wooden floor.

I noticed Sasuke wince slightly at my landing.

"Ow" I moaned rubbing my head as I sat up. I glanced at my best friend, who just stared at me boredly. "I'm alright by the way, thanks for asking!" I snapped slightly.

"Of course you are, now hurry up!" he ordered.

I gave him a suspicious look "what's got you all grumpy?"

"Nothing" he quickly answered "I just didn't sleep well last night, the Dobe's snoring drove me nuts."

Knowing that Uchiha scold, I knew it would be best not to press him further... even when I knew he was flat out lying.

I mean come on, he spent practically a month in the same room as Naruto on the last c-rank mission, and didn't complain about his snoring once.

I'm calling bullshit.

"Okay I'm up!" I snapped shoving Sasuke out the door "but you have to get out of my room!"

I didn't give him a chance to remark, as I slammed the door in his face.

* * *

After finally getting ready, we set off to the second exam. It wasn't long till we saw a mass crowd of people, familiar faces from yesterday.

"Alright!" beamed Naruto as he punched his palm "I'm so ready for this!"

I couldn't help scan the area for Tesuya and his team, as I adjusted the vambrace on my arms.

They were no where to seen, which made me uneasy. But I couldn't dwell on that right now, as I saw the second examiner, Anko, approach.

"Right then!" she yelled out "Participants of the Second Chunnin exam are to follow me to the location!"

She then point at us "Anyone who strays from the group will be terminated from the exam!"

Not another word was said as she led us to the location, in my opinion, Anko was ten times more scary than Ibiki.

After a couple of minutes, we finally reached the destination.

"What..." I heard Naruto gasp "what is this place?"

I too couldn't help but ask that question in my head. Before us was a heavily guarded fence, behind it, a never-ending scenery of dark, massive trees. All that could be seen was shadows, greenery and slight movement of wildlife. The sun's rays and warmth, was completely blocked out by the large branches, giving off a very cold chill down the spine.

"This place is where the second exam will take place" Anko announced, "The 44th training area... Also known as the Forest of Death."

I raised my eyebrow, "what a charming name."

"This sure is a creepy place" Sakura cringed, Sasuke didn't say anything and Naruto continued to stare at the forest.

Anko smirked "you will be able to experience why this place is called the Forest of Death."

Naruto scoffed, and stuck his butt out, he then presumed to mock Anko in a high pitched voice and wiggling his butt back and forth.

'_Here we go...' _I thought tediously

"There's no point in trying to scare us like that!" he declared "I'm not scared at all!"

There was an uncomfortable silence, only Naruto was too dense to realise it.

"Really?" Anko said with a very fake, pleasant smile, "You sure are energetic."

But suddenly, she produced a kunai and flung it in Naruto's direction. Thankfully, it just missed him... or so I thought when I noticed a trickle of blood across his cheek.

"Boys like you die the fastest."

I only just blinked, and she was suddenly behind him

"So fast..." I breathed.

Anko used her finger to wipe away some of Naruto's blood. "After spilling out that red blood I love all over the place" she chimed.

A shiver went down my spine, "and people say the forest is creepy."

Again she had another kunai in her free hand and went to throw it behind her, but she was stopped by a... tongue?

I couldn't stop my eye twitching as I watched Anko interact with this other ninja. From what I could see it was a girl, maybe a few years older than me? Most of her face was shield by her straw hat, but she had long, straight dark hair and a very, disturbing long tongue.

"Here's your knife" the tongue ninja offered, who actually turned out to be a boy. Naruto had a very freaked out look on his face, whilst Anko just smiled and said thank you.

I was just amazed he could still talk clearly with his tongue sticking out...

I notice the weirdest things sometimes.

The examiner and examinee had something of a stare down, till Anko warned her not to stand so close behind her, unless she wanted to die young.

Anko took the knives back, and the ninja retreated his tongue.

"Well..." mr long tongue sang "I get itchy when I see blood. Also, my precious hair was cut, so I got a little excited."

He then apologised and walked back towards his team, and towards me...

As he walked past, she glanced me a strange look, as if he was analysing me. I narrowed my eyes and stared right back. I moved out of his way and he continued walking, pretending I didn't exist.

I wasn't one to back down from a stare off, but I wasn't getting good vibes from this guy. So I decided to just put it to rest for now.

"It looks like there are a lot of hot-headed people here today" Anko stated "This is going to be interesting."

Naruto glared at her as if to say 'you have no room to talk!' I couldn't help but think the same thing.

Anko stepped away from my teammate and walked towards the fence. "Before we begin the second exam" she began as she turned to face all of us. "I'm going to pass these out to everyone." She then went into her coat and pulled out sheets of paper.

Anko explained that everyone taking the exam must sign a consent form. Naruto questioned as to why.

"From here on, people will die" she replied."Therefore, we need people's consent before we continue." She then laughed and stated that if we didn't, she'd be held responsible.

"So we're basically giving permission to get killed" I remarked "stupid catches!"

"Now!" Anko announced "I will begin the explanation of the second exam."

She pointed the papers at Naruto to take from her, which he did and started passing them around.

"To be concise, you will all go through an extreme survival match" she explained.

'_That's a romantic way of putting it' _I thought sarcastically.

Anko pulled out a scroll to explain the training area's geographical features. "The 44th training area is a circular region surrounded by 44 locked gate entrances" she told us. "There is a river, a forest, and a tower in the middle. The tower is approximately 10 km away from the gates."

She then illuminated that inside the limited space, we would have to go through a certain survival program. Which consisted of...

"A competition where anything goes, over these scrolls" she finished, and showed us all a white scroll, and a black one.

The white scroll was called The Scroll of Heaven, whilst the black was named The Scroll of the Earth. Anko told us that we would be basically fighting over them.

"26 teams in total passed the first exam" she detailed "half of those teams will get the Scroll of Heaven. The other half will get the Scroll of the Earth."

Oh I get it, we get given one of the two scrolls within our team, and we must fight other teams to obtain the other.

"And?" spoke Sasuke for the first time since leaving my house, "what's needed to pass?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I stated more than asked, "we need to bring both scrolls to the tower with our teammates."

"In other words" Sakura simplified "the 13 teams, or half the people here, that get their scroll stolen will fail."

"But it need to be done within a time limit" Anko added in.

I huffed under my breath, and prepared for the worst.

"This second exam has a limit of 120 hours" she said as she put the scrolls into her coat, "or exactly five days."

"Five days!?" Ino suddenly shrieked.

I then heard Chouji wail out something about food.

"Scrounge it up yourself" she simply replied "the forest is a treasure box of nature, there should be plenty of food."

To be fair, the prospect of having to find our own food did bother me, in fact, Mountaineers thrived in this kind of environment. Afterall, we are renowned as 'Nature Folk.'

So really, myself and Tesuya's team had a slight advantage with this area.

Kabuto, who I actually forgot was here, felt the need to remind us that there are also man-eating beasts, poison bugs and poisonous plants to watch out for.

"Oh no..." Chouji whined.

"Stupid" Ino criticized "that's why it's called a survival."

"Also" I heard Neji say behind me, "it is not possible for 13 teams, or 39 people to pass."

I cleared my voice "its actually 40."

Neji threw me a puzzled look, so I reminded him that I was in a four man team.

"Oh..." was all he said, with a slight blush in his cheeks.

I dismissed his mistake "don't worry I'm not insulted by it or anything."

"I never said you were!" he snapped but then caught himself, and apologized clumsy.

I felt a wet drop form in the back of my head _'why are you saying sorry?'_

"As time passes, you will be required to move more" Lee stated, changing the subject. "So, the time to rest your body will become shorter. This seems quite rough."

"And we're surrounded by enemies" Sasuke added in, "We won't be able to sleep in peace."

Anko let loose a "hn" sound, and declared that people will get hurt in the process of fighting over the scroll, and that those who cannot bear the program's strictness will reveal themselves.

"Excuse me?" Called Shikamaru "can we quit in between?"

"As a rule, you are not allowed to give up during the exam" Anko answered sternly, and then added in a pleasant tone that we would spend five days in the forest.

"Just as I thought" Shikamaru groaned "how troublesome."

"While we're on this topic" Anko piped in, "here are the conditions that will fail you."

She listed the following:

A team that cannot bring both scrolls to the tower will all fail.

The team that loses a teammate or produces an unrecoverable teammate will fail.

You are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until reach the tower.

"What happens if you look?" Naruto questioned.

"That's a surprise you'll see when you look at it" Anko teased.

Naruto sighed in a confused tone.

"Basically, don't open it" I told him "ever!"

"If you become a Chuunin, you will be handling top secret documents" said Anko, "It's to determine your reliability."

So reliability, survival and teamwork are what we are being tested on. As well as our ability to complete a mission within a time limit, and in a high pressured environment.

'_This isn't going to be easy.'_

"That's it for the explanation" Anko concluded and pointed to the shack next to her, "we will exchange three consent forms for one scroll at that hut... and after picking our gate entrance, everyone will begin at the same time."

She then sighed loudly "here's a last piece of advice. DON'T DIE!"

We were given half an hour to fill in our forms, as well as to prepare ourselves. Most people broke off into their teams, my team however seemed to disperse... well... not all of us. Myself and Sasuke decided to perch ourselves against a large rock, whilst Sakura and Naruto disappeared somewhere.

I scanned the form's information, "quite intense, isn't it?" I noted. However, I didn't get an answer.

"Sasuke?" I called looking at him, it was then I noticed he was staring at the hut. Following his gaze, I noticed that the Chuunin began to cover it with a curtain.

So there cover the desk so we don't know who gets what scroll, hence why we have to fight each other. I guess Ibiki was right, when it comes to gathering information, your life is really on the line.

"This is the real deal."

Sasuke turned to look at me "are you getting nervous?"

I pondered for a moment, "a little, but the not because for the exam..."

"you're worried we'll run into Tesuya" he confirmed my thoughts.

I didn't reply, instead I just hugged my knees to my chest.

"I can't promise that we won't face him" he told me "but I can say is that if we do, we'll all be there to help you, alright?"

I nodded, feeling a little more reassured. Turning my head slightly, I noticed Sakura walking along.

"Oh no..."

"What?" Sasuke asked,

"Ino and Sakura, that's never a good combination."

I couldn't hear what they were saying, no doubt it was hurling insults at each other. It didn't take long for them to start growling and glaring at each other. I also noticed Shikamaru and Chouji not far away, staring at the two in fear. Eventually, they both walked off in a huff.

"Those two are so annoying when together" Sasuke complained.

My eye twitched "its because of you they act like that?"

"Huh? Did you say something?" he asked.

I shook my head and told him to forget about it.

The curtain from the hut was pulled back, a male Chuunin poked his head out. "It's time to trade your forms for a scoll" he announced and went back behind the curtain.

"That's our cue!" I chirped pushing myself to my feet, Sasuke soon followed.

"Five days in a forest, with people wanting to kill you... sounds like a perfect setting! Wouldn't you agree Kendra?"

I turned around hastily to see Tesuya and his team standing there.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and clenched my fist. "I'm not scared of you..."

This caused him to chuckle "of course you are! Look at you!" he jeered.

Okay so I was scared, I couldn't stop my shaking and my heart was pounding furiously.

His female teammate giggled menacingly "look at her little friend, he's so cute when he's angry."

I turned my head to see Sasuke with a very ticked off expression on his face, and if looks could kill... Tesuya would be in a million pieces.

"Come on Sasuke, save it till the exam" I told him as I grabbed his wrist and dragged him away. But not before hearing Tesuya sing...

"I can't wait to get my hands on you... it is going to be a lot of fun."

I tried to ignore the uncomfortable shiver down my spine, however I didn't manage to get as far away from him as I could, and met up with the rest of my team.

All four of us went behind the curtain and handed in our forms, thus receiving a heaven scroll. We where then instructed to go to the gate that was given to us.

We followed the Chuunin to our gate, with read clearly the number twelve and waited.

"Alright!" Naruto yelled with optimism "I'm not gonna lose! We'll beat those who get near us first!"

"Please stop punching the air" I lectured "you need to save up as much as energy as you can."

Finally, the chains were unlocked, and Anko announced that the second exam had now begun!

The gates flew open, and me and my team prepared for our biggest challenge so far!


	35. Passwords are such a pain!

**I am so SO sorry its taken so long!**

**I have had no time what so ever to get any writing done due to work and a recent placement.**

**My workplace is working me to the bone, and its mostly evening shifts.**

**I'm working on the next chapter, so please be patient with me.**

* * *

A blood curling screamed echoed through the vast depths of the forest, making me and my team pause our walking.

"That was someone's scream, right?" Asked Sakura nervously.

A flock of Birds flew overhead, terrorized of what they just heard, flying fanatically away.

I narrowed my eyes, "we're only five minutes in the exam, and already the killing has started" I stated "jeez this place couldn't get anymore intense!"

"I'm starting to get nervous..." Sakura muttered.

Naruto placed his arms on the back of his head, "It's nothing, Sakura-chan!" he tried to reassure, even though he sounded just as jumpy as she did. But then suddenly, he ran towards the tree behind him.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I need to pee."

I did a double take "Whoa hang on a second!" I cried, Sakura managed to stop him by punching him on the back of the head.

"You idiot!" she yelled "What are you trying to do in front of a lady!" She then pointed towards the bushes and ordered him to do his business there. Not wanting to annoy her any more, Naruto quickly disappeared into the greenery.

I took this moment to try and sense out my surroundings, but the trees were so tall and thick, it made wind reading practically impossible.

"Do you hear that?" I muttered.

Sasuke glanced at me, "I don't hear anything..."

"Exactly" I cut in "no more birds, no breeze, this place is practically a dead zone."

Sasuke knew what I was getting at, which means that we couldn't rely on my wind reading skills this time around, unless we found a more open area.

Naruto then reappeared.

"Are you done?" I asked him.

Naruto sighed in a light tone "I peed a lot! That felt good."

I cringed "too much information."

"Like I said" Sakura snapped, holding her fist in the air "don't say such a thing in front of a lady..."

WHAM!

All of a sudden, Sasuke attacked Naruto out of no where, knocking him backwards on against a tree.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke said still shocked "you didn't have to go that far!"

Naruto rubbed his now sore cheek "Why... did you do that?" he asked carefully.

This caused me to raise my eyebrow _'That's not the kind of reaction I'd expect from Naruto... unless...'_ Yes, the Naruto I know would start screaming furiously at Sasuke, and demand that he fight him fairly and what not.

As Sasuke continued his attack, I finally realised what was going on.

Naruto tried to escape through the trees, but got knocked back down.

"What are you doing all of a sudden?" Naruto asked relatively calm.

"What, you ask?" Sasuke mused "that's my line!"

Sakura tried to stop him from attacking our teammate further, but I managed to intercept her.

"What are you doing!?" she hissed at me.

"Just hold on a sec" I whispered back, "something isn't quite right."

Naruto and Sasuke clashed knives, and both dodged one move after another.

"Sasuke-kun, please stop!" Sakura pleaded.

"Look at him closely!" Sasuke ordered.

Sakura was still confused, for a smart girl she can be really clueless sometimes.

"Spill it!" Sasuke commanded "Where's the real Naruto?"

Naruto gasped "I don't know what you're talking about."

I huffed "oh I think you do."

"What happened to the wound on your face?" Sasuke pointed out.

Now that he mentioned it, Naruto showed no sign of the scratch he received from Anko earlier.

Sasuke repeated himself one more time, he also noted that Naruto always had his shuriken on his right leg, not the left.

I got my kunai out, "also Naruto would never react so calmly when attacked, especially by Sasuke."

"You're even worse than Naruto at transforming, you fake loser" Sasuke insulted.

Smoke interrupted around Naruto, completely hiding him from out sight. Once the smoke cleared, Naruto was gone. In his stead was a boy in a white jumpsuit, a gas mask and a grass ninja headband.

"How unlucky" he commented, his voice slightly muffled by the mask "I guess I have no choice, since you found me out. Which one of you has the scroll?"

I pointed the Kunai at him "you're in no position to make any demands."

"If you give it up quietly, I'll spare your lives" he tried to bargain.

I tsked, "why you over-confident brat." I charged in for the attack. The grass ninja's eyes widened in amusement "I see, I have to use force now!"

I threw a kunai at him, which caused him to dodge to the left, like I predicted. I went to do a leg sweep to try and knock him off balance, but he managed to dodge it by jumping up in the air.

"Too easy!" he boasted.

I smirked "is it?"

He blinked in confusion, not realising Sasuke was weaving hand signs behind him.

Fireballs shot out from his mouth. The grass ninja looked behind him to see what was happening.

_'Now's my chance!'_

I kicked him in the gut, causing him to fling into the fireballs. However, he seemed to recover quickly and jumped against a tree. Sasuke met him in the middle and they clashed kunai.

"Hey! Sasuke!" I heard someone yell.

I jumped over the large Branch to see Naruto tied up. Sasuke must have noticed him to, as he threw another kunai knife on the ground, next to our teammate. Quickly I jumped down to grab the knife and cut him free.

"Okay!" Naruto cheered as he threw the ropes off him. Sasuke continued to battle with the grass ninja, and it seemed pretty even until he threw an exploding tag.

"Sasuke!" I called out.

Thankfully, he managed to get away from the cross fire and land back on the ground. But the grass Ninja was too fast and got behind him.

"Lucky me" he sang "if you move, I'll kill you."

Sasuke glanced behind him as the ninja demanded that he hung over scroll quietly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out.

I went to his aid, but Naruto beat me to it, by throwing the kunai knife he was given by me.

"You're not getting away!" Naruto bellowed.

Sasuke glanced backwards at the Kunai, his Sharingan fully active. With his chakra, he held the blade under his feet.

_'Whoah! That some serious chakra control!'_ I thought as he swung his leg around to fling the blade at our enemy.

The ninja dodged the blade, but completely forgot for about a certain Uchiha. Sasuke took full advantage and managed to stab him in shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried again.

"Don't just stand there, Sakura!" Sasuke barked.

"Huh?"

I shook my head "idiot! He may not be alone, so keep your guard up!" I snarled "Or you're really going to die!"

Sasuke managed to kick the enemy off of him, "I could use a little help here!"

"Right!" I jumped past my teammate and directly to my target.

'_**Mountain Fist, Claws of the Mountain Wolf!'**_

I heard Him gasp has I hit my claw on his wound, aggravating it more.

"This is unlucky" I heard him grunt.

I smirked "that's what you get for charging in on your own."

The ninja turned in the air and fled through the forest, I tried to follow, but he disappeared into the shadows.

"Damn it!" I cursed, as I shook the hand I used to attack. "Is everyone alright?" I called back as I turned to face them.

I made my way back to my team, Sasuke wiped the blood off his face whilst Sakura and Naruto walked over.

"I've never seen you do that move before" Sakura commented.

I grinned "That's because I only learnt it a week ago."

Sakura looked at me in amazement and demanded how I found out about it.

"Well, it was my brother who told me about it, but I never made the effort to perfect it" I explained. "It wasn't until Sasuke reminded me of it during our training that I remembered it, I figured it would be useful."

"Right... its kinda scary that you managed to master it so quickly" Sakura muttered.

I paid no mind to her comment, she obviously didn't remember that I was able to learn techniques fairly easily.

We all sat in a circle to figure out what our next move was. Sasuke, was the first to speak.

"If the four of us get separated, don't trust anyone even if he looks like one of us" he stated. "There's a possibility that an enemy will transform into one of us and approach."

"So, what should we do?" Sakura quizzed.

I folded my arms and hummed in thought "we need some sort of code, or secret password."

"Password?" Naruto repeated.

"I agree" said Sasuke, and explained that if a different password is given, we must assume that they are an enemy no matter what he looks like.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully" he stated.

_'W-wait a second!'_ I screeched in my head, Sasuke knows that when it comes to remembering phrases, I had to hear them at least wince!

Oh don't judge me, it's a language thing!

"First" he began "you ask, 'The ninja song** Ninki'**? The answer is the following... It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down... That's it."

"Okay" confirmed Sakura confidently. I however felt a little lost.

"Could you say it one more time?" Naruto asked.

Sakura threw him a disappointing look.

"I said that I'm only going to say it once" Sasuke replied sternly.

Sakura scoffed "could you not remember it all? You're stupid. I memorised it right away."

Well now I felt like a fool, because like Naruto, I couldn't remember it either. Maybe if Sasuke repeated it in Yamakurism I'd understand it better.

"I remembered it perfectly, too!" Naruto countered "I just wanted to be sure by hearing it one more time..."

Sasuke stood up and decided to keep the scroll, but Naruto told him to wait. However, he was suddenly cut off when he cradled his cheek.

"What's wrong?" I asked, then I noticed fresh scratch on his other cheek. Suddenly, I massive gust of wind fell upon us.

"A new enemy?" Sasuke questioned, shielding his face. Closing my eyes, I was able to briefly sense the enemy through the vibration of the wind.

"Three..." I managed to muster "there's three of them-AHHH!"

It was no use, the gale was so powerful it flung me backwards towards a tree. My back hit with loud, painful thud. I harshly hit the ground and probably had stars floating around my head.

"Owie!" I cringed holding the back of my neck, "this exam is becoming a pain!" Groggily I stood up and scanned the area. From the looks of it, I didn't stray to far from where my team was. I guess the tree was a slight silver lining.

A rusting of bushes could be heard from behind me, I prepared for attack.

"Tomoko?"

I blinked, "Sasuke!"

"Wait!" he commanded, pulling out his kunai knife "what's the password?"

"Er..."

"The ninja song 'Ninki'?" he started.

I began to panic, being killed by my own best friend wasn't exactly what I wanted! "Well... it was something to do with... making a scene? And hideouts... erm... ninjas and time... ahh... GOD DAMN IT!"

I stomped my foot "**ðu bastard! Hú béon ic gewénan æt gemonan á þæs! Gif ðu cannot recognise mec æfter ðu béon á lousy freónd! **(You bastard! How am I suppose to remember all that! If you cannot recognise me then you are a lousy friend!)."

Sasuke suddenly chuckled.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY!?" I asked very ticked off.

Sasuke smirked "I knew there was no way you'd remember all that, that's why I only said it once in my first language. I also knew you would start insulting me Yamakurism, you do that when you get flustered."

"You... you did it on purpose!?" I screeched "What happened to killing anyone who didn't know it!"

"Like I said, I knew you wouldn't remember it. Quit getting so mad, at least I'm not trying to kill you" he told me.

I couldn't help but huff, although it was brilliant strategy on Sasuke's part, I couldn't help but feel upset that he used my weakness as a way to distinguish me.

"Then what about Naruto?" I shot at him "you do realise that he isn't gonna remember any of that password right?"

"Of course" he replied "why do you think I only said it once?"

I felt a vein pop in my head "you don't have to be a jerk about it!"

Suddenly, I sensed a presence coming to towards us, Sasuke prepared for an attack.

"Sakura!" I called seeing her standing there.

"Tomoko! Sasuke-kun!" she replied as she took a step forward, only to be stop by our male teammate demanding the password.

"O-Okay" she stuttered, and repeated the answer flawlessly.

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Sasuke relaxed a little.

"Hey wait a minute" Sakura spoke and pointed at me "aren't you gonna ask her?"

"er..."

"Don't worry, I already asked her" Sasuke answered.

"And she got the answer, right?" Sakura asked.

"What the heck is that suppose to mean!?" I snapped.

Sakura squealed and pulled a scared expression "okay, there's no doubt you're Tomoko..."

I was about to retaliate to that comment, but I was cut off by Naruto yelling at us...

'_When did he get here?'_

"Hey, Everyone, are you okay?" he asked us, sounding out of breath.

"Naruto, wait a minute" said Sakura, stopping him in his tracks "say the password."

Naruto grinned "I know" he confirmed.

"It is a good chance when a large amount if enemies are making a scene, There are no hideouts in a quiet place."

'_Naruto is remembering all that?!' _I thought, _'no way! He's gotta mess up at some point!'_

"It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"Well that was impressive" I commented sarcastically.

"Hehe thanks!" Naruto gushed.

"That wasn't a compliment."

Naruto didn't have time to retorted, as Sasuke to caught on to what I was thinking a threw a Kunai at him.

Naruto barely dodged it, by stumbling to the ground "what are you doing!?"

"This time, we have someone good enough to dodge my attack" Sasuke stated.

"What are you talking about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura demanded "Naruto said the password correctly!"

"That's why we have a problem" he casually replied.

"Huh?"

"Oh come on!" I said becoming very pissed off "do you honestly think Naruto would remember a long password like that?!"

Sakura blinked, finally piecing it all together "good point, he would say 'sorry, I forgot'."

"And the movement he showed when he dodged my attack is different from Naruto" Sasuke concluded.

"Enough tricks! Show your real self!" I ordered.

Naruto then threw us a very, unnatural grin and chuckled. And if that wasn't creepy enough, the guy licked his lips with an abnormally long tongue.

"I see" he mused, and in a puff of smoke, Naruto disappeared and was replaced with another grass ninja.

'_Wait a minute, that's the same guy from earlier! Who crept behind Anko!'_

"If you knew that he was going to forget it... why didn't you use a shorter password?" he asked my male teammate.

Sasuke pulled his signature smirk "I knew that you were evesdropping on our conversation inside the ground. That's why I made a long password."

The grass ninja removed his straw hat and sent a smirk of his own "I see, so you don't let your guard down."

"As if we can let our guard down in a place like this" I remarked acidly.

"Looks like I can have more fun than I expected" he sang and licked his lips again.

I shivered "urgh this guy is a total creeper!" But I couldn't help but wonder where Naruto was. But I couldn't think about that now, as the snake freak pulled out a scroll.

And it wasn't just any scroll either, it was an earth scroll.

"You want our Scroll of Earth, right?" he asked "Since you have the Scroll of Heaven..."

"What... are you going..."

I never got to finish my sentence, as I watched in horror this guy wrap his snake like tongue, around the scroll and swallowed it whole.

As if I was weirded out already.

"Now..." he jeered, "lets begin... the fight over our scrolls..."

I held my arms up in a defensive position, preparing myself for the worse

I heard Sakura and Sasuke gasp behind me, distracting me slightly.

Then, out of the blue I felt a massive surge of chakra coming towards us. Turning back to our enemy, I was suddenly by a red light, and was surrounded by blood.

'_What's going on!? My whole body feels numb!'_

Kunai came flying towards my forehead, I tried to move my arms to block the attack but they felt heavy like led.

But then everything stopped, I once again had control of my body and the gory scene that I just saw was gone.

"What?" I heard the grass Ninja mumble.

I scanned the area in front of me and looked down on my arms... a slight green tint shone from the vanbrace.

'_Did they just cancel out the Genjustu?'_

Movement could be heard from behind me, turning my head I saw something I never wanted to see. Both my teammates looking utterly terrified.

Sakura fell to the floor and Sasuke was panting heavily, he then doubled over and vomited on the floor.

"Sasuke!" I called frantic.

I looked at Sakura to see her shaking like a leaf in the winter cold, tears streaming down her face.

Crap this isn't good.

I glared at the enemy in front of us "What did you do to them!?"

The Ninja gave me a cold glare "I just demonstrated my intent, to kill you all."

Sasuke tried his best to get up, but was completely frozen.

"S-Sakura..." he called, but got no reply.

"Oy! I don't know what you two saw but you gonna snap out of it!"

"They won't be moving for a while" the ninja remarked.

I cursed under my breath, all I could do now was distract him long enough for them to recover.

"I have to say" he crooned "I'm quite impressed, you must have incredible will power to break out of my Genjustu."

I narrowed my eyes at him "flattery will get you nowhere!"

He burst out laughing "Oh yes, now I understand why they are so interested in you!"

"Interested? Who are you talking about?!" I demanded.

But all he did was lick his lips again "let's play... Tomoko-Kendra..."

My eyes widened, how did he know that name!?

Like the speed of light, he went in for the attack, hitting me straight in the face. Completely caught off guard, I stumbled backwards.

I went to high kick him, but he was too fast and ended up behind me.

'_So fast!'_

He grabbed a hold of my arm and yanked it upwards, causing a shooting pain to surge up my arm.

I grinded my teeth in pain, and froze in one place.

"What's wrong?" he asked me in a weird tone "why are you holding back?"

With my free hand, I elbowed him in the gut, but he saw it coming and dodged backwards... letting me go in the process.

I skidded backwards, joining my team once again.

"It looks like they still can't move" he remarked "you're not showing me your full potential."

"I've had enough of you!" I yelled charging at him, moving my right hand into a claw.

"Hm?" he hummed.

'_**Mountain Fist! Claws of the-'**_

"Now lets not get hasty."

I gasped in shock as he flawlessly grabbed my wrist, and cancelling out my flow of chakra.

"How did you..."

"Questions, questions" he repeated playful and without flinching, struck me on the side of the head. I was flung violently to the ground, skidding and tumbling in the dirt.

"How disappointing" I heard him say.

I glower at him as I pushed my upper body up.

"You have such a rare power, and you don't use it." He stated "Why is that?"

Rare power? I don't have a rare power!

At least... I don't think I do...

"hmmm" he hummed "I know, I'll give you some motivation!"

I saw him turn his attention to my teammates.

"NO!" I cried out, "SASUKE! SAKURA!"

"Looks like you still can't move" he told them walking towards them.

Although still white as a sheep, Sasuke managed to move his arm and get out his kunai.

The grass ninja constricted his gaze "What are you going to do with that?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, realising that our enemy was watching him.

The Grass ninja pulled out two kunai knives and told him that he would end their lives in a flash.

I tried to get up, but my body was in too much pain from my fall. "Sasuke! Move! He's going to attack!"

No response.

"God damn it Sasuke! MOVE!"

But it was too late, the Ninja threw the knives at my helpless teammates... and all I could do was watch.


	36. Tomoko's Seal! Sasuke's fear!

I must of just blinked, or something. Because one moment, I was watching my teammates, frozen in terror about to be killed. To nothing at all.

Where did they both go? Did someone save them?

"I see" spoke the grass ninja in amusement.

It was then I noticed a blood splatter on the floor, was that Sasuke's?

Footprints were marked into the moss of the giant trees where my male teammate had jumped against, carrying Sakura with him.

I could only come to two conclusions. One, the ninja missed his target and only slightly grazed Sasuke, or two, Sasuke hurt himself to replace the fear with pain.

I was leaning more towards the latter.

Whilst I was relieved that they were both out of harms way, I only just realised…

That I was now completely alone with this snake creep.

Slowly, I began push myself to my feet, which caught his attention.

"I have to say, I wasn't expecting that."

I raised my eyebrow "expecting what?"

He released a strange chuckle "the two of them to leave you behind so quickly."

"They didn't abandon me!" I snapped back.

The grass ninja smirked, "I wonder, will they come to you're rescue now?"

This guy was beginning to piss me off, "shut up!"

"Or will they abandon you… like your mother did."

I blinked in confusion, "What did you just say?"

"Yes, her title was **Lufu**, do you know what that name means?"

"What's that got to do with this?!" I snapped.

"Everything…" he remarked.

And that's where I saw red, without thinking anything through I charged at him, jumping in the air with my fist clenched. I expected him to dodge it, what I didn't expect… Was the amount of force I produced from my fist. As my knuckles made contact with the ground, the earth imploded on itself, forcing the rock into shattering pieces.

I didn't give my enemy time to recover and went after him again, only this time he disappeared into the tree.

Hastily I searched the area, ignoring the stinging sensation coming from my vambrace.

"So that's what triggers your power" I heard him say from the shadows. "You'rE afraid. Afraid of the unknown, you so desperately want answers to who you are, and why your mother, your sweet, mother sent you away."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY MOTHER!" I roared.

"I know enough" he stated, "I know that she is a member of the once great Mori clan."

_'Mori clan?'_

"And I also know that she was a weak, frail woman."

_'Weak? frail?'_

"Unlike your father, who was strong… but wasn't…"

"Shut up! I've had enough of your lies!" I screeched, his voice and theories was making my brain throb.

"You want me to stop?" he challenged, "then tell me about her… what was she like? how old was she? what was her fears?"

I shook my head, trying to process these questions he was asking… "her name was Fumiko, she had blonde and black hair and…. and…"

"And?" he pressed on.

"She… She sent us away so we could raise the village alarm!"

"Is that what your brother told you?"

I gasped, how did he know I had a brother!?

"Oh my, you really don't know anything do you!"

I punched where the voice was coming from, only to hit a tree trunk.

"Here's another question for you" he spoke eerily "do you remember anything of your father?"

"My father!?"

"Yes, the other half that bought you into this world."

"I don't have-"

_**"This is all your fault!"**_

I released a shaky breath, whose voice was that? it sounded a lot like a man, with a lot of authority.

"Whose there?!" I yelled.

_**"Stop that!"**_

Now a female voice spoke sounding scared.

_**"No! I will not cease Fumiko! You have to let her go!"**_

Wait, the female was my mother.

_**"No I cannot!" **_she cried painfully _**"I love her too much…"**_

_**"As do I…" **_spoke the man in a calmer, more solemn voice _**"but we much do our duty, no matter how painful it will be…"**_

"STOP IT!" I screamed as I pulled my hair, trying to block these voices.

My brain felt like it was going to explode! Why is this happening?! Was the grass ninja doing this?!

"Hmmm I think I understand now."

I shot my head up, to see the ninja towering above me.

I froze, like I was stuck in a trance.

"Do you want them, Tomoko?" he asked, using my actual name for the first time.

I took a step back, not sure what he was talking about.

"Your memories" he answered the silent question, "I can give you what you seek… well I can at least try."

I shook my head, there was no way I was gonna let this guy manipulate me like this. But before I could retaliate, something large and somewhat slimy wrapped itself around my body.

_'What the-'_

I glanced down to see a human sized snake squeezing me tightly. It's dark brown scales matched the mud beneath my feet, giving it the perfect camouflage. It's large yellow eyes stared at me hungrily, and its tongue poked out at me, as if it was toying with me.

"Don't worry" he reassured in a sweet, sickly tone "I won't let it kill you."

_'Shit! Shit! Shit! This isn't good!'_

I just glared at him, and struggled to get free which was a mistake because the snake's grip only got more firmer.

"However…" he stated "I think its best I paralyze you for this."

"Wha?"

I couldn't finish my sentence, as the snake, as quick as lightning, stuck it's two long, deadly fangs into my shoulder.

The first thing I felt was the piercing of the flesh, as the fangs ripped though my skin with such ease. Next, was the pain… which was like being electrocuted a thousand times. Then finally… numbness, not being able to move, speak… even blink.

But I could still hear, see and smell.

"This snake not only has venom to render it's prey useless, it also reveals any hidden marks or seals." The ninja told me.

I tried to speak, but my throat was swelling up, making it hard to breathe.

_'Damn it where is my team!?'_

I saw the smirk on his face grow more twisted, "How interesting!" he sang "you weren't holding back after all!"

He poked his large snake tongue out and licked his lips.

"I'm going to enjoy this… its time you awakened… my little champion."

* * *

Meanwhile, Both Sakura and Sasuke were trying to regain their breath behind a nearby tree. Sasuke still had the kunai stabbed in his own thigh, granted it wasn't one of his most smartest idea, but it did the trick.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura breathed before letting out a gasp "Tomoko! Where's Tomoko!?"

"I could…" Sasuke huffed "Only… grab one of you…"

Sasuke slowly pulled out the kunai, making him wince and blood splatter everywhere.

"She's… still with that guy!?" Sakura cried.

Sasuke didn't say anything, as he threw the knife to the side, and continued to quiver in fear.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura remember "Sasuke-kun are you oka-hpmh!"

she was silenced by Sasuke's palm, and watched as he nervously looked behind him.

_'We need to run!' _Sasuke thought _'But Tomoko is still out there!'_

His breathing became more frantic and panicky.

_'What do I do!? WHAT DO I DO?!'_

And that's when they heard it, a blood-curling scream echoing through the trees, shaking them to the core.

Sasuke slowly removed his hand Sakura mouth, leaning to the right to see past the tree. There, he got a glance at where the shrieking was coming from.

He didn't notice that Sakura had to, leaned closer to see what was going on.

His eyes widened, as he saw his best friend, coiled up in a gigantic snake, with its fangs sunk deep with in the crest of her neck. But that's not all that was happening.

Sasuke could not see Tomoko's eyes, because the Grass Ninja's hand was clamped down on her forehead in a spider-like grip.

He heard Sakura gasp behind him, she was now clutching onto his shirt.

"A most fascinating seal… I've never seen anything like it" the enemy mused.

Sasuke and Sakura watched the ninja pull his hand away to show what the fuss was about.

What they both saw was… strange. In the centre of Tomoko's forehead was a symbol of sorts… no one could be really sure, due to the fact they was so far away. It was somewhat shaped like a star, and looked like neutral atom without the centre circle.

The Grass ninja smirk and flecked his hand into a claw, slowly purple chakra appeared in his finger tips.

"By the way its etched into your skin, you have a **Blóda Seal**" he remarked.

_'A Blood Seal? what the heck is that?!' _Sasuke questioned.

"Sasuke-kun… we have to help her!" whispered Sakura harshly.

But Sasuke couldn't move, once again he became a statue of fear.

Without hesitation or second thought, the ninja clamped his hand on Tomoko's head and surged his chakra into her. Sasuke could see black lines proceeding from the atom mark, across her forehead, over her ears, creating a tiara like pattern woven together.

Her body was set alight with a light blue chakra, emulating from her body. Both teammates were amazed at how much chakra she had.

But now wasn't the time to be impressed.

Because If you thought Tomoko's screams from earlier was horrifying enough. The almost, gagging wail that escaped her lips sounded ten times worse. Her eyes had rolled to the back of her head so you could no longer see her beautiful, forest green eyes. Blood was flowing out of her mouth and nose endlessly, as if she was being electrocuted.

Slowly, her chakra ignited even brighter, only to be sucked into the ninja's hand.

"He's draining her chakra?" Sasuke mumbled.

"It's true!" he exhaled dramatically "you are as they say! opening the seal is the key to your power!"

Tomoko didn't reply, she couldn't due to all the pain she was in.

"Sasuke-kun do something!" Sakura begged.

"Awaken _**Kendra Tomoko**_! Show me the true power of Order!" he cheered and started laughing manically. However he suddenly stopped, and his face twisted in pain.

Sakura and Sasuke looked is astonishment and horror, as Tomoko's chakra changed from a its natural light blue, to a blinding spring green. Steam pulsed out of the ninja's hand and the sound of scorched flesh sizzled in the air.

The grass Ninja stumbled back before any any damage could be done, the Snake however… wasn't so lucky.

It released it's jaws from it's victims neck and hissed out in agony. It once smooth brown scales eroded into black and it collapsed into a pile of ashes.

once free, Tomoko stood there for about ten seconds as her Chakra faded away, then she collapsed face first to the ground.

_'No…' _Sasuke said in his head _'he got Tomoko! She's down for the count!'_

"So, you would have her mind ripped into pieces before letting anyone awaken her power?" The Grass Ninja asked to no one in particular. He then chuckled "Takashi… you were very careful."

_'Takashi?'_ Sasuke thought in confusion, that was a name he'd never heard before.

"Sasuke-kun? What happened? Is Tomoko okay!?" Sakura asked frantically.

Sasuke, snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at her, he could see the worry in her eyes.

"I… don't know…"

How was he to explain that!? Tomoko… Tomoko was defeated! There was nothing he could do!

Sasuke turn to see the scene again, but saw no sign of their enemy.

_'WHERE'D HE GO!? WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!'_

"Sasuke-hpmh!"

He had once again clamped his hand over her mouth.

Sakura looked him in confusion but then noticed something behind her. Her eyes became the size of saucers as she saw a giant Snake hover over them like the cold calculating predator it was.

Sasuke seemed too caught up in his own head, but his hand wouldn't budge. Sakura muffled desperately into his palm, trying to pull it away from her.

"Sasuke-kun!" she breathed after finally freeing herself "A snake!"

Sasuke turned his head back around, his Sharingan on full display. They both only just managed to dodge the attack, but the snake was quick, and struck again, it's prey being Sasuke.

"I was so upset that I didn't even notice the presence of a snake…?" Sasuke asked himself.

The snake opened its large mouth, ready to swallow him whole. Sasuke did a double that, did he just see the cold eyes of the grass ninja behind it, glaring at him.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!" He screamed out in terror.

Not really thinking, he tossed various weapons at the head of the beast, causing it to hiss out in pain and collapse.

Sasuke landed on a branch nearby and saw that he was now directly above Tomoko, who still had not moved.

As soon as he saw her, he called out to her. But still she remained in a comatose state, not moving an inch.

Then suddenly, he heard a strange cracking sound. glancing up, he hauled in fear. As someone began crawling out of the snake's scales.

"You can't let your guar down, even for a second" the grass ninja told them as he continued to push himself out of the fallen creature. "Prey need to strain their minds all the time, and run around… In the presence of a predator.""

He t lifted his head, a sick expression on his face and as licked of his lips.

The ninja coiled himself around the tree tuck, making his way to Sasuke like the slippery snake he was.

Sasuke was petrified and stuck in one place. It seemed that upon seeing Tomoko unmovable body, and his enemy's movement made him snap. The courage he once had was lost…

If Tomoko couldn't beat him… how was he gonna pull it off?

The ninja was close enough to strike, but he was interrupted by serval ninja weapons cutting his path.

Sakura released the breath she was holding.

"Sorry, Sasuke!" called a very familiar voice.

everyone looked upward, to see a bright orange outfit, and a goofy smile.

"Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

With his arms across his chest, he proudly proclaimed that he couldn't remember the password….

Typical of the Village's number one noisy ninja.

"Good Naruto!" Sakura called "You look kind of cool!"

Naruto ahem'd confidently.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled up to him "you must have come here to show off by helping us, but don't get involved!"

Naruto threw a questioning glance at his male teammate.

"Run!" Sasuke ordered "he's way above our level!"

"Looks like you defeated that big snake, Naruto-kun" the grass ninja commented.

Naruto stared at the enemy, concluding that he how very much resembled a snake, and that his attack from earlier was because of him. But something was wrong, one of his teammates was missing.

"where's Tomoko-chan?"

No one said anything, but he noticed Sasuke glancing downward. following his gaze, he saw his female friend laying lifelessly on the ground.

"Oy! Tomoko-chan!" he called blissfully unaware "now isn't the time to take a nap!"

But there was no response.

"Hey! Tomoko-chan! This isn't funny!"

"idiot!" Sasuke scolded "Tomoko was defeated!"

Naruto blinked, Tomoko, the strongest female rookie lost?!

No, the noisy ninja didn't believe it, he couldn't believe it!

"Tomoko!" he called frantically "get up now!"

Anger shot through him…

"Hey, hey hey! What have you done to her!?" he bellowed at the snake like creep.

"Naruto don't!" Sasuke snapped back.

The grass ninja smirked "I wanted to awaken her true self."

Naruto released a baffled huh, and exclaimed that there was no way that he was doing that because she was asleep.

"Looks like you were picking on the weak, eh?" Naruto established, pointing a finger at the enemy. he then proclaimed that he, 'the great Uzumaki Naruto', was here, and going to beat him to a pulp.

Sasuke's jaw dropped at his words, this guy couldn't be serious! At this rate all four of them would be killed.

_'What should I do?' _ he kept repeating in his head.

Sasuke assested the situation, and couldn't think of a way out. Tomoko was badly hurt, and she needed help. There was only thing left to do.

He deactivated his Sharingan and called the enemy to wait, gaining his attention. The young Uchiha reached into his pocket and grabbed the scroll.

"I'll give you the scroll."

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes, hell even Sakura was shocked.

"Please" his rival pleaded "take this and leave us in peace."

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto roared "What are you doing!?"

_'Shut up Naruto!' _Sasuke thought.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO BY GIVING THE ENEMY OUR SCROLL?"

"You shut up!" the other male snapped back.

"What?" Naruto muttered, this could not be happening!

"I see, you're smart" the grass ninja complimented. He then banged on about how the only hope the prey has from the predator is to hand something else to eat so they can save themselves.

"Your teammate learnt that the hard way" he stated "without her, your team is in pieces."

Sasuke ignored his comment, only because he knew it was true. With Tomoko out of action, he found it hard to continue this fight.

Without her, the team, and himself, had ceased to function.

"Take it" he said whilst tossing it away.

Naruto gasped and jumped across. In the nick of time, he grabbed the scroll, pushed himself off a tree truck to land in-between Sasuke and the ninja.

"You…!" Sasuke seethed "DON'T BUTT IN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION YOU'RE IN!?"

Naruto's answer, came in the form of a fist, as he clocked his rival right in the face, causing him jump back into another branch.

"Why you… why did you do that!?" he demanded.

Naruto breathed in and out heavily "I… forgot the password" he said "so I can't make sure of this, but… You're a fake Sasuke, aren't you?"

"Naruto!" Sakura shot in "what… what are you saying?"

"You idiot!" Sasuke spat "I'm the real one!"

"Liar!" Naruto heaved "The idiot and coward I see in front of me, right now, can't be the Sasuke I know!"

Sakura stared at him in surprise.

"I don't know how strong he is, but there is no guarantee that he'll let us go even if we hand over our scroll!" Naruto explained.

"Tomoko would understand that, she would have kept fighting!"

Sasuke glared at him, why was he bringing his best friend into this? can't he see he was doing this for her!

"You're the one who is scared" Naruto accused "the one who doesn't understand the situation."

The grass ninja chuckled "Naruto-kun…"

He licked his lips once again "you're correct!" he then proceed to lift up his sleeve, showing a snake like seal. "I just have to… kill all of you to take the scroll."

He bit his thumb and traced a line of blood across the seal. Noticing this Naruto charged for an attack.

"STOP!" Sasuke called out desperately "RUN! NARUTO!"

* * *

_**I wasn't really sure how I got here, but it was a hell of a lot nicer than where I was. I woke up to find myself surrounded by golden corn, glistening in the bright warm sunlight. Sitting up I scanned my surroundings, looking for some sort of induction as to where I was.**_

_**"Where am I?" I asked myself. "Somehow I don't think I'm in the Forest of Death anymore."**_

_**Then I saw something in the distant…**_

_**"Hey is someone there?"**_

_**I pushed myself off the ground and walked towards figure, as I got closer… I could make out that it was a little girl.**_

_**"Excuse me?" I called kneeling to her level "could you please tell me where I am?"**_

_**The girl's eyes were cast downward, and she had an emotionless expression on her face. It was a little unnerving to be honest.**_

_**"Is something wrong?" I asked her.**_

_**Her head began to twitch unnaturally to the right, as if she was having a seizure. I stumbled backwards, falling over in the process, and whimpered slightly as she looked up at me.**_

_**"Wrong?" she asked in weird, sweet tone… her green eyes began diluting and blood began trailing out of her mouth. "What makes you think… that there is something…. wrong?"**_

_**My body shook uncontrollably, and my jaw was wide in horror.**_

_**The little girl began to walk towards me, her arms hanging loosely and almost dead like.**_

_**"Stay away from me!" I cried as I attempted to crawl away from her.**_

_**She stopped, which I wasn't expecting.**_

_**"I cannot do that" she told me.**_

_**I stared at her in confusion, "why?"**_

_**She then pulled a sick smile "because I am you!"**_

_**I shook my head, not believing her words.**_

_**"I am you!" she repeated more manically. As she repeated the phrase, over and over again. Her twitching became more violent and blood was now pouring from every available hole on her head.**_

_**I tried to crawl away from her again, only to be stopped my someone stomping on my foot.**_

_**"There is no escape" the girls voice now sounded much older.**_

_**I stared back at her in dismay, the little girl was now replaced by that woman…**_

_**The Woman covered in blood.**_

_**"I've missed you so much…" the woman said solemnly. "We can finally be together again…" she mused happy, "my daughter." **_


	37. Sasuke's Courage

**I am, So, so Sorry!**

**I feel completely awful for not getting this done sooner.**

**I don't want to be making excuses, but I'm dealing with some utter crap in my life at the moment.**

**I'm working a job I'm beginning to despise, because they can't organise anything, and are working me to the bone.**

**And I've injured my back because I'm so stressed out.**

**So overall, I'm becoming very depressed because I feel I've been chucked into a never ending black hole that I'll never escape from.**

**So yeah, everything is kinda shit right now. But finishing this chapter has made me feel much better, I forgot how much writing relaxes me.**

**I'm sorry isfthe chapter is pants. Please be patient with me, I'm trying as hard as I can to get this story finished. **

* * *

**Her once silk black and blonde hair was now in rags, looking like rats tails. Her beautiful face was covered with dirt and blood. And her eyes, all wide eyed and dilated gave off the impression that she wasn't all there.**

**"Come with me Daughter" The woman commanded, "Don't you see you belong with me now."**

**I shook my head in disbelief "Never!"**

**"It is useless to resist" she told me evilly.**

**I managed to kick my leg free from her foot, making her stumble. This new found energy I had, enabled me to jump back onto my feet.**

**I stared at my so-called 'mother', blood pouring all down her, staining her beautiful white kimono.**

**"You are not my mother" I said sternly.**

**I noticed her stiffen slightly.**

**"You are but a figment in my mind… nothing more!"**

**I now noticed her shaking violently, which I must say unnerved me a little.**

**"Not acceptable…" she muttered "I have waited long enough!"**

**Her eyes widened in an unnatural way "You will surrender to me!"**

**Her blood-drenched hair suddenly became alive, and started to wrap all around me, trapping me. I attempted to struggle, but it was to no avail.**

**Gradually she came closer till her face was inches from my own.**

**"I am going to rip your mind apart" she announced gleefully, is a twisted manner, "brick, by brick, by brick."**

**"Like hell you are!" I shouted and managed to head butt her, causing her to throw her head back. She stayed like that for a little while, before slowly titling her head straight again.**

**"We will be together…"**

_"NO NARUTO DON'T!"_

**I blinked, that sounded like Sasuke. I then could hear fighting, the clashing of blades. Wait a minute, Naruto is here!?**

_"How Cute, what a cute prey."_

**That voice! That's the sound ninja.**

**"Naruto be careful!" I shouted as loud as I could.**

**The woman narrowed her eyes at me.**

**"Naruto! Sasuke! Can you hear me!?"**

**I heard Sasuke call Naruto again, only he sounded a lot more fanatic.**

_"Naruto!" _**A female called, that was Sakura!**

**I attempted to escape this inferno woman's hair once more, my teammates needed me!**

**"No one will help you, no one cares as much as I do" the woman sang.**

**"Shut up!" I hissed "and get out of my head!"**

**The woman began laughing manically. But I wasn't paying attention to her, I was listening to Naruto's painful cries.**

_"Eat him for now" _**The sound ninja's voice echoed.**

**No! Naruto! What the hell is Sasuke doing!?**

**I had to do something, I had to get out of her.**

**I stared back at my kidnapper, watching her finally calm down. I remembered how my charka killed off the snake before I was sent here… maybe if I focused, I could do it again.**

**However, I wasn't a hundred percent sure how I did it. I closed my eyes and imagined the snake once more, then I sent waves of my chakra out of my body.**

**"What are you doing?" the woman asked, sounding scared.**

**My hair began floating with my chakra, reopening my eyes, my body was now illuminating a spring green glow.**

**"Awegcuman nú and nàwa cumin Hrycg! **(Leave now and never come back!)**"**

**I heard her gasp.**

**"Awegcuman nú and nàwa cumin Hrycg!"**

**She began growing under her breath, but I could feel her grip on me loosen.**

**"AWEGCUMAN NÚ!" I yelled, "AND NÀ CUMIN HRYCG!"**

**The green light knocked her backwards, forcing her to free me. Immediately I turned my heel and started running, hearing her call out to me, practically screaming.**

**"YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF ME!" She screeched, "FIGHT ALL YOU WANT, YOU CONSCIOUS AND MENTALITY WILL CRUMBLE! TILL YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A SHELL OF YOURSELF!**

* * *

I watched Naruto switched from a victim, to going completely berserk. Continuously attacking the snake, it seemed he was being toyed with.

My heart felt like it was beating a million miles per hour, as I watched our enemy counter attack with a fire justu.

"That's… Naruto?" I whispered.

"You're next!" the grass ninja suddenly announced staring right at me. "Sasuke-kun. How will you fight?" he asked as the Snake moved to strike me.

I tried to move, but my body was frozen! My fear getting the better of me.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed, trying to warn me.

But as my heart rate raced, the more frozen I became. I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact.

Only for it to never come. Instead, I heard something getting stabbed and crushed into the tree branch. I slowly reopened my eyes, to see Naruto had blocked the snake's path by stabbing kunai into its lip.

He was facing me, head hanging low. Every breath he took was a heavy heave as if he was every tired.

"Hey…"

I blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out whether he was actually calling out to me.

"Are you hurt..." He asked me breathless.

My jaw was nearly on the ground, as I watched him lift his head up and say…

"Scaredy-cat?"

Something stirred within me, as I recalled the moment I said the same thing to him, on our last mission.

I stared into his now, feline red eyes as he stated, that the idiot and coward he saw before him, wasn't the Sasuke he knew.

Suddenly, a snake like tongue coiled around Naruto's arms, and ripped him upwards. The ninja held my teammate in the air with unnatural organ, seemingly amused by his struggle to get free.

"Let go! You snake bastard!" Naruto barked.

But his orders fell on death ears, as the ninja pulled him closer. He proceeded to make a strange hand seal, then purple flames erupted from his fingertips.

With his tongue he lifted up Naruto's shirt. I couldn't see what he was looking at due to the fact Naruto's back was facing me.

"Gogya Fuuin! (Five Element Seal)" he yelled and like the mountain fist, he stabbed his hand into my teammate's stomach. No screams came from his victim, only gasps of pain.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called desperately, "Please help Naruto!"

But all I could do was watch, as Naruto's body slumped forward, and hung loosely in the ninja's grip. The enemy took this chance to reach in for our scroll and take it. Without a care in the world, he tossed Naruto like an unwanted rag doll behind him. Sakura had enough sense to throw a kunai knife to pierce through the orange ninja's shirt and pin him to the tree trunk, halting his fall.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" she shouted at me furiously!

I didn't answer her, I just kept staring at my fallen teammate.

I then heard Sakura scream that Naruto was many things, but at least he wasn't a coward!

I closed my eyes, ashamed of myself… how I was I ever suppose to claim my revenge now. I couldn't even face this guy without losing my head.

His last words to me… from that horrible night, echoed in my head, making me cringe and shake like a leaf.

_**"Foolish brother. If you wish to kill me, hate, detest me… And survive in an unsightly way… and cling to life."**_

"Remember who you are!"

I reopened my eyes and gasped… that voice…

I looked downward, seeing her staring up at me… a determined look in her forest green eyes.

No longer was she laying face first in the dirt. Now she was on her knees, with on hand against the ground, where she had pushed herself up. The other hand was resting in her lap. Her breathing was heavy, as if she had just ran a marathon. Even though her body was shaking just as bad as mine was, her eyes sang courage to me.

"Tomoko?" I whispered, not really believing what I was seeing.

"**Öu néon ne sum eargian! **(You are not a coward)" she told me. "**IC cunnan hit, öu cunnan hit! **(I know it, you know it!)"

I once again closed my eyes, absorbing her words.

"Show them the power of the Uchiha Clan!" she ordered. I felt the power ignite in my eyes, my bloodline running through my veins.

As I revealed my Sharingan to my enemy… my courage returned.

* * *

My words seemed to aspire my best friend, as he stared at our enemy with that deadly Uchiha look.

"Tomoko!" Sakura cheered.

The Grass Ninja narrowed his eyes at me, as if to say 'how can she be awake?'

Too be honest I wasn't sure how myself. I remember being coiled up in a snake, and the Grass Ninja saying something about a Blood Seal...

Pain shot through my head, making me cringe. Noticing this, Sakura called to me again, asking if I was hurt.

I waved my hand at her, reassuring I was fine.

I watched both Sasuke and the enemy prepare for a strike, I saw a glare of the mighty Sharingan from the corner of his eyes, as he held a kunai knife in his mouth and charged.

The Grass Ninja released some sort of wind technique, but Sasuke was able to dodge it and throw several weapons at him.

Feeling confident that Sasuke could handle this, my focus shifted onto Naruto.

As I pushed myself to my feet, I could still feel the effects of the snake venom. My body screamed at me not to move. But I was a stubborn gal, and I had to help my teammate.

"Hang on Naruto, I'm coming." I whispered as I walked towards the tree he was stuck on.

I heard a gust of fire behind me, intense heat touched the back of my neck. I turned to watch the fight again, my eyes widening slightly.

'_Did Sasuke do that?!'_

The flames disbursed and the enemy went for the strike, but Sasuke jumped backwards and the battle was paused.

'_Damn it, Naruto is right in firing range of this fight' _I told myself. I had to get him down from that tree trunk.

Focusing my chakra into my feet, I gingerly walked up the large trunk towards my orange dressed teammate.

When I reached him I grabbed his arm, "hang on Naruto" I told him. I quickly pulled the kunai out, his body fell forward so fast I nearly dropped him.

With all my strength I pulled his arm over my shoulder and jumped back down onto the ground. I gently laid him on the floor and put my ear to his chest.

As the fight between Sasuke and the enemy continued behind me, I concluded that Naruto still had a heartbeat and was still very much alive.

But I got distracted when I heard Sasuke cry out in pain. Turning once again to fight, I noticed the Ninja beating the snot out of him and kicking him to the ground.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried.

I hissed under my breath, as the Grass Ninja stood over him. I couldn't hear what he was saying, which unnerved me more.

'_Come on Sasuke get up!'_

But then, out of nowhere. Explosions blasted from the enemy's back, knocking him forward. Sasuke immediately sprang to life and jumped over him. He threw several shuriken towards the ninja, and landed on the nearby branch.

"What is he?"

I never finished my question, as I saw a faint glimmer of wire strings being handled my teammate and pinning the ninja to a tree.

The Snake was caught, and about to get a taste of his own medicine. Flames erupted around Sasuke, and ran along wire directly at our enemy, who was now screaming in pain.

The slowly retreated, the smell of burning wood filled my nostrils as I saw the damage of Sasuke's fire technique. The ninja hung limply from the wires, and Sasuke was now hunched forward, completely out of breath.

I saw Sakura run towards him, but he seemed not to be paying any attention to her. Instead, he glanced in my direction.

I gave him a slight smile and nodded, letting him know he did a great job.

But this moment, was short lived. As the sound of the wire strings pulling and snapping hit me highly attuned ears.

My face dropped, and my heart stopped for a second.

Sasuke threw me a puzzled look, clearly not realising what was happening.

"Sasuke! Sakura get out of there!" I screamed but it was already too late. The Grass Ninja had put some sort of paralysis on the three of us.

I tried my hardest to move, but my whole body felt like it was being crushed.

The Grass Ninja stood above us and said...

"I'm impressed that you can use your Sharingan so well at your age, you live up to the name of Uchiha".

Something strange was happening, the ninja's voice was gradually going much deeper, and sound a lot older.

"I want you after all" he stated.

Was he talking to Sasuke? What was going on!?

Sasuke screamed in pain, trying his best to move.

"Sasuke!" I cried as I managed to move my left foot. The ninja took notice of this as looked at me.

His face was melting off, like a snake skin it hung loosely from his skin, but what unnerved me was the yellow, snake like eye that was staring at me. What was also different was his headband, he now has the symbol of a sound ninja.

"Those two are definitely brothers, wouldn't you say Tomoko? But I think his eyes carry more potential than Itachi."

I gasped, how the hell did he know about Itachi, or Sasuke for that matter!?

"Who are you!?" Sasuke demanded.

The ninja produced our scroll, looked at Sasuke and held in his hand.

"My name is Orochimaru" he answered. "If you wish to see me again, get through this exam as if your life depended on it."

"NO! OUR SCROLL!" I cried as I watched him burn it to ashes.

"In other words" he casually continued "you'll have to defeat my subordinates, the three Sound Ninja."

"What nonsense are you chattering about?" Sakura snapped. "We never want to see your face anymore!"

I heard him chuckle "It doesn't work that way." He entwined his fingers together and made a seal I'd never seen before.

It all happened so suddenly, Orochimaru's neck stretched out and coiled to attack.

I screamed out in horror as this freak clamped his jaws into my best friend's neck, it lasted for a second, but it felt like an hour. Eventually he released his bite and retreated back to normal.

"Sasuke!" I called as he clung onto the bite, and started wincing in agony.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura wailed.

"I gave him a farewell present" Orchimaru answered.

Sasuke collapsed to his knees as Orchimaru kept spouting that he would eventually seek him for power.

I clenched my fist, "as If I would let you!" I said between gritted teeth.

Orchimaru turned to look at me, a look of interest was written across his mangled face.

I felt chakra once again, coursing through my body.

"AS IF I WOULD LET YOU TAKE HIM AWAY!"

Out of sneer will power, I broke out of the paralysis and went straight towards him.

But this Orchimaru was ten steps ahead of me, as he kicked me in the gut, knocking me backwards.

My back hit the tree, but before I could do anything, he grabbed a hold of my throat and pinned me there.

"You are a fascinating creature" he mused at me. "You were able to give him the courage to fight me, and break out of my paralysis justu."

I struggled to get free, but he as far stronger than me.

"However, even a pure soul like yours cannot stop the darkness that grows in his heart."

"If you touch him again... I'll kill you!" I spat.

"You're naive, I told you... Sasuke-kun will willingly seek my power, he is an avenger after all" he explained to me.

Finally he let go of me and I crashed to the ground.

"As valuable as you are, I can't let you blinker Sasuke-kun... whether it will be by the Sound or the Mountain... you must die."

"Then why won't you kill me now?" I spluttered.

Orchimaru smirked "because Sasuke-kun would never let me live it down. Literally."

I narrowed my eyes at him, and demanded him to explain himself.

"Sasuke-kun needs to have the intent to kill, and you're going to be his trigger."

He began to sink into the bark of the tree "it was fun being able to see a lot of yours and Sasuke-kun's moves."

And just like that... he was gone.

I stared at the spot where he once stood in shock, what did me mean by a pure soul...

Would I really cause Sasuke to kill someone?

But my thoughts were interrupted as I heard a blood curling cry from above me.

"Sasuke..." I whimpered and immediately ran and jumped from branch to branch.

When I finally reached him, Sakura had a one hand in his back, and the other holding his hand, as he gripped it tightly.

Once again he cried out in agony, and eventually collapsed in my female teammates arms.

"Sasuke!" I shouted frantically. Sakura reacted to my voice and looked up at me.

"Tomoko... Sasuke-kun... that guy... he..."

"I know I saw the whole thing" I answered kneeling down to their level. I stared at me friend, who was completely passed out.

"NARUTO!" Sakura cried "SASUKE-KUN IS..."

"It's no use!" I shot in "Naruto's down for the count to."

A flock of crows flew around us, making the two of us jump.

I scanned to area, making sure that snake creep was nowhere in sight.

"Tomoko..." I heard her sniff "what are we going to do?"

I stared down at me lap, daring not to look at her...

"I don't know..."


	38. The Beautiful Blue Beast Kinda

**sorry its taken so long, this chapters has been re-written about five times and to be honest... I;m still that 100% happy with it.**

**But I knew I had to put out something and here it is.**

**Again Sorry, the next chapter will be a little better... hopefully.**

* * *

"The roots on this tree are uprooted slightly, this would provide great cover for us."

I glanced over at Sakura, who was holding Naruto's arm around her shoulder. I was doing the same, only with Sasuke.

We both managed, although I'm not quite sure how, to drag both our unconscious male teammates out of the tree branches, and onto the ground. Naruto was fairly easy to carry, due to him being shorter than all of us. However, there was no way Sakura's skinny little arms could carry Sasuke's large frame.

So lucky me, I had to carry him, and damn was he heavy!

We hadn't gotten very far from where we saw and fought Orochimaru, and I could tell Sakura was getting tired.

"No matter where we go, we're an open target" I stated with a sigh. "But we don't have a choice, we can't complete the exam until these two wake up."

I scanned the area, "okay you go first."

"What about Naruto?"

I exhaled loudly "put him down, gently! And I'll pass him and Sasuke to you, so get in."

Sakura did as I instructed, and as carefully as I could, I passed Naruto first to her. After getting Sasuke in, she laid them both side by side on their backs.

Standing up straight, I looked towards the sky, I only now noticed that it was night fall.

"Tomoko!"

Snapped out of my thoughts and turned to face Sakura.

"He's getting a fever!"

I crawled into the roots to see what she meant, sure enough Sasuke was flinching uncontrollably.

Kneeling by his side, I asked her kindly to move her hand away so I could do the same.

"The headband needs to come off, give me a hand will ya?" I told her. Sakura carefully lifted his head so I could untie it. Once done, she gently laid him back down.

I carefully placed my hand over his forehead, true enough, he was burning like a fresh fire. Removing my hand, I placed two fingers against the pulse on his wrist.

"His pulse is fast, but nothing to fret over I guess."

"Then... what should we do?" she asked unsure.

I massaged my temple "for now, we can only try and make things more comfortable for him..."

"Oh course! I have some towels in my ninja pouch, and I'm sure there's a river or pond nearby" she chirped.

"Hey wait a sec-" But I didn't finish as she crawled out of our shelter and stood up straight.

"Stay here and keep watch, I'll be right back."

"I said wait!" I snapped as I made my way out.

Immediately she stopped and faced me, pulling a confused expression.

"You can't just barge off on your own so blindly!"

She scoffed "do you have any better ideas?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Yes it was risky, but it was the only chance Sasuke had.

Begrudgingly I reached into my own weapons pouch.

"Here take this..." I said throwing it to her.

She caught it with ease, "when did you-"

"The Grass Ninja, the first one I mean, dropped it. I figured it'd be useful." I answered simply.

"You stole his drink carton?" she quizzed holding it in the air.

"Nope, he dropped it, I did what any ninja would've done."

"hm, I suppose you have a point" she breathed "I won't be long."

"Don't stray to far! There could still be enemies about" I told her.

She waved at me to let me know she heard me and disappeared within the greenery. I looked at our little shelter, and at my sleeping teammates.

This was quite the situation we managed to get ourselves into. The sight of Sasuke being bit by... I wasn't even sure if I could call Orochimaru a man. It all happened so fast, and I couldn't do anything.

"_**I'm scared..."**_

I inhaled sharply, what's going on!? I wasn't even trying to use my power... or remember my past!

"_**Someone help me, the scary men are going to kill me..."**_

"No..." I whimpered, I desperately searched the area. Hoping Sakura was coming back... But I couldn't see her any where.

The greenery withered around me, the trees became twisted and rotten.

I released a small cry, I hastily crawled back under the tree roots. Sitting right at the back of the tree, I tucked my knees to my chest and rested my chin on top.

"Okay, just calm down... its not real" I told myself...

"_**I'm scared... there's blood everywhere!"**_

"Stop it!"

"_**I don't want to die!"**_

"Sakura hurry up... please!" I whimpered as I saw a bloody figure standing over me.

* * *

"That carton came in handy" Sakura mused as she made her way back to the shelter. She managed to find a small river need by, that was more than enough to treat Sasuke's fever.

As Sakura reached the shelter, she couldn't help but notice how unusually quiet it was.

"Tomoko?" she called gently "did you fall asleep?"

She made her way into the tree roots.

"Tomoko? Did you hear me?"

But what she saw confused her.

Tomoko was tucked in the corner shaking uncontrollably, her eyes as wide as saucers. But what Sakura found disturbing, was the fact that she was just staring off into space... or that she was watching something.

"Hey Tomoko?" she called "what are you looking at?"

But her female teammate didn't answer her, she just continued to gawk at the same spot.

Sakura didn't hesitate, she kneeled in front of her and grabbed a hold of her hands.

"Tomoko..." she whispered softly.

Tomoko blinked a couple of times, as if she'd forgotten where she was.

"You okay?" the pink haired female asked.

Tomoko shook her head slightly, "Where'd she go?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow "who are you talking about?"

Tomoko looked around before sighing, telling her teammate to forget she said anything.

"Tomoko..." Sakura began "what happened to you? What did Orochimaru do to you?"

Tomoko gazed into the ground, not uttering a word.

"Tomoko?"

"Orochimaru said something about me being asleep, I have no idea what he meant by that. But he said he was going to awaken me... and give me back my memories."

"And do you remember anything?" Sakura quizzed.

Tomoko shook her head.

"Orochimaru said something about a seal, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was called" Sakura recollected.

Tomoko raised her eyebrow, and asked what she meant.

"Well, the name itself was in Yamakurism... I think..." she answered "Sasuke-kun seemed to understand it."

"Did he?"

"Either way, I think the justu backfired, because he retreated his hand and seemed to be in pain."

"And then?"

"Well..." Sakura said "you passed out... To be honest I couldn't really see much due to Sasuke-kun blocking my vision."

Tomoko looked down at her hands, at her vanbrace.

"I saw the woman covered in blood, she said that she was going to rip my mind to shreds."

"You mean the one from your nightmares?" she confirmed.

Tomoko nodded, "only now, she's delved even deeper into my mind... and I can't promise what will happen if I let her take me."

"I don't understand..." Saskura confessed.

Tomoko paused for second... "Neither do I, that's why I'm not taking any chances. You should focus on them two" she suddenly replied, nodding her head towards the boys.

"Tomoko..."

"I'm fine, I just... don't let me get caught up in my head" she ordered.

Sakura hesitantly nodded.

* * *

Daybreak fell upon us, the boys still hadn't woken up and even though she meant well, Sakura was getting on my last nerve.

She's been watching me like a hawk, and taking on most of the responsibilities. And by responsibilities I mean caring for the boys, setting up traps and keeping watch.

And its not like I haven't offered to help. In fact, I was begging to do something! But she wouldn't budge. I did however use this time to recover of some sorts... I'd done a lot of meditation and praying, you just to get my head back in the game.

I watched as she changed the damp cloth on Sasuke's forehead, a tired expression on her face. Speaking of the devil, he was still flinching and gasping, but it wasn't as bad now... thank god.

I couldn't tell you how painful it was to see him so helpless, and knowing that there was nothing I couldn't do for him made it even harder.

Naruto, well... he just seemed to be in a peaceful sleep. The only thing wrong with him was that he wouldn't wake up. We both tried, hell I even resulted to my 'knock-you-back-to-sense' punch (Sakura's words, not mine). But... it didn't work.

"You know Sakura, if they don't wake up soon... we're screwed" I told her.

No reply.

"Sakura?"

I looked up at her to see she had nodded off, I did a little cheer inside my head. Leaning my head back against the tree I was under, I released a heavy sigh.

"Ah!"

my attention was caught by Sasuke's cry, his flinching was becoming ten times worse. He was also mumbling something I couldn't understand.

"What?"

I pulled my ear closer to his mouth, and gasped.

"Tomoko... T-Tomoko..."

"Sssh" I cooed gently, "its alright... I'm here..."

This seemed to calm him down a little bit.

"Blood seal..."

I blinked, what did he just mumble?

"Blood seal... Orochimaru..."

"Blood Seal?" I repeated, what was he talking about. I wondered if this was the seal Sakura mentioned earlier?

I can't say that I've ever heard of such justu before.

Suddenly, I heard a gasp of fear.

Removing my hand, I looked up to see a frantic Sakura looking around.

"You okay?" I asked.

She stared at me, then at the boys.

"You fell asleep" I answered the silent question.

She looked at me horrified, so I had to reassure her it was only for like what? Ten minutes? Time wasn't exactly easy to keep on top of here.

"It's dawn already?" she questioned.

I nodded, it was the second day and we had barely moved.

Then, out of the blue. The bushes outside started rustling violently. Both me and Sakura prepared for the worse, and got our weapons ready.

We waited for the person to show themselves, only to find... well...

A squirrel.

"Eh?" I breathed out.

"Geez, don't scare us like that" Sakura exhaled to it.

The squirrel twitched its curious gaze at me and gave out a happy squeak. Immediately it started running towards me.

I heard Sakura intake a breath loudly and threw her kunai at the creature. The squirrel, jumped back in terror and ran off.

"Phew..." she wheezed "that was close."

I stared at where the squirrel was before, and the knife stabbed into the ground. Something didn't seem right about that squirrel. I mean granted, we are in the middle of a forest. However, I remembered something that happened before the first exam.

"**Well, he's not usually 'that' friendly with new people" I heard Kiba say.**

**I scratched behind the dogs ears "I have a certain nack with animals."**

"**Yeah" Naruto cut in "they all seem to love her straight away..."**

"Man what is it with you and animals" Sakura complained "you're like a magnet!"

'_Shit...'_

I am a freaking idiot! I should've realised that enemy ninja were listening to our conversation... and I blurt that out.

And now the second exam is set in a remote forest, surrounded by wildlife.

I tucked my knees to my chest and hugged them. As much as I know I should tell Sakura about my little theory, I didn't want to spook her.

"Hey!" she called "snap out of it!"

I blinked and looked at her stern expression, she must have thought I was getting trapped in my thoughts again.

Sakura shifted slightly, her legs must be aching from sitting down for so long.

"Maybe you should continue sleeping..."

"No!" Sakura cut in, "Don't be offended by this... but you're almost in as worse condition as Naruto and Sasuke-kun. I don't understand what happened to you, but regardless you need to rest... Now shut up! And leave it to me!"

I stared at her, a little wide-eyed at her outburst.

"Did you just stick up for yourself? Without sounding like a penchant child?" I asked.

She didn't answer.

"Who are you and what have you done with Haruno Sakura?"

I was amazed, and slightly scared. Sakura was actually taking charge for once.

Letting go of my legs, I leaned back onto a root and sighed heavily. As much as I wanted to get some shut eye, with the way my mind was working at the moment... I didn't want to risk it.

"I'm not going to sleep, I don't think I can..." I told her. I stared at my vambrace, clenching my fists I contemplated slightly.

Sakura, as determined as she was, couldn't hide the fact that she was exhausted. Her head was bobbing up and down, and her eyes kept closing.

I had to think on my feet, I needed to regain my strength quickly... and I did know one technique... but I had yet to completely master it. It was taught to me a while back, but it wasn't until my training sessions with Sasuke that I had only gotten to grips with it.

But, I had yet to fully use it...

"I don't have a choice..."

"Did you say something?" Sakura asked me.

I glanced at her "its nothing, I'm going to continue praying for a little while" I lied slightly.

"Go for it..." she replied dryly.

I crossed my legs and intwined my hands together.

_'The Flow of Chakra is like a river...'_

Once I got the feel of my Chakra flow, I placed my index fingers on the tips of my thumbs, creating a diamond shape. I then positioned the hand seal against my right collarbone, and focused on that part of the body.

_'Lets hope I don't have to use this...'_

* * *

I few more hours past, both me and Sakura fell into a silence and the boys were still in a slumber. I was only now I'd finished my 'technique' and relaxed a bit more. I felt much more alert and awake from it, much to Sakura's pleasure.

"How the heck do you do it?"

I glanced at her, and asked her what she was talking about.

"I'm practically fighting to stay awake" she hissed slightly, "but you haven't batted an eyelid."

"Yes... do tell."

We both became alert at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"Not sleeping and taking watch for the entire time, is quite impressive. But there's no need to do so."

We both stared out to see three people, two boys and a girl.

"It's those sound ninja" I mumbled.

"Could you wake Sasuke-kun?" the voice, which belongs to the heavily bandaged guy, asked gleefully "We want to fight him."

I stood up slowly and grabbed a kunai. Sakura demanded them to explain their purpose, and stated that we knew someone named Orochimaru was behind all of this.

The three of them stared at her in surprise.

"What's that weird bruise on Sasuke-kun's neck?" she challenged "You want to fight Sasuke-kun, after you did this to him?"

I glanced back at Sasuke, then back to our new guests. From the looks on their faces, this was the first they'd heard about Sasuke's bruise.

"I wonder, too..." said the bandaged guy "what is that person thinking?"

The other guy, who was sat on a rock smirked. "But now that we heard that, we can't ignore it" he mused "I'll kill this girl, too. I'll even kill the Sasuke guy." He slowly stood up, which made me react.

I slowly stepped out of the shelter and stood next to Sakura. "I am not in a great mood right now" I told him crossly, "if you even take one step... we will fight back."

The sound guy stared at me for a while, then laughed slightly. "So that's her huh? She doesn't look all that special."

"Wait Zaku" the bandaged one commanded, so that's the cocky jerk's name.

Zaku, let out a questioning what. His teammate approached us slowly, I silently prayed Sakura set a decent trap.

"How unoriginal" he commented kneeling down "The colour of the dirt indicates that it has just been dug up, this grass doesn't grow here."

'_Damn it Sakura!' _I hissed in my head, _'you couldn't have made a more obvious trap!'_

"How Dumb" Zaku sneered "So she threw that knife so that the squirrel wouldn't get caught in the trap."

Mr Mummy stood up and tilted his head to the side, "lets kill them straight away."

"Oh no..." I mumbled as all three of them jumped for the attack.

However, I noticed Sakura pull a knife out and smirk.

"What are you-"

The sound of a ninja wire snapping, echoed in my ears. I watched as a giant log began to tumble from the branches, aiming directly at our enemy.

"When did you..." I paused "actually, I don't think I want to know."

I'm not sure if I could handle anymore surprises.

Although it took caught the ninja a bit off guard, mummy guy managed to counter it, unfortunately, I didn't see how he did it.

However... I did hear a light tremor, it was very faint... but it was enough for me.

But I had to get back to the situation at hand, Sakura's trap failed

"To be blunt, you have no talent at all" Mr Mummy said to my teammate, "people like you need to work harder!"

Crap, I didn't have enough time to counter.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

I must have blinked, because one minute we were getting attacked. The next, our enemy got knocked backwards.

A figure stood in front, startling us slightly.

"Then the three of you also need to work harder." Said the new voice confidently.

My eye twitched slightly, as I stared at the back of green covered jump suit, and a squirrel on his shoulder.

Mummy guy demanded who he was.

"Konoha's beautiful blue beast... Rock Lee!"

'_Beautiful isn't the word I'd use...' _ I thought as I felt a wet drop on the back of my head.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked him, sounding completely baffled.

"Yeah why are you here?" I repeated, feeling confused myself, "Where is your team?"

He paused for a second, "When you are in danger, I will appear at anytime" he replied, although I had a feeling he was talking to Sakura.

I threw him a very unamused look "so if it was just me in danger, you would have bothered" I stated sounding very narked "thanks a lot Lee..."

He then lowered the squirrel to the ground and thanked it for it's help, it scurried away not long after.

"But right now" I heard Sakura say "I am your enemy, too."

"I told you before" he cut in "that I will protect you to the death."

I felt like face palming myself "my goodness you actually meant that?"

"Oh... Thank you..." mumbled Sakura.

I stared at her with my jaw on the floor, she was actually being nice to him.

And Lee was practically crying with joy, to which I told him to get a grip.

I heard Mr Mummy mumble something about having no choice, as he brought out his earth scroll.

"Zaku, I'll leave Sasuke-kun to you."" he called chucking the scroll to him "I'll kill these two."

Zaku caught it with ease, and I took a power stance "you won't lay a finger on him!"

Zaku narrowed his eyes at me, "I have to fight this girl? Really Doku?"

So that's what Mummy Guy's name is.

Doku threw him a stern glance "if she is who he says she is, don't underestimate her."

But Zaku smirked and went in for the attack, so I sprang into action. I threw my knife at him which caused him to dodge it, as soon as he was distracted I went to kick him, but he dodged that to.

It was only now I realised that Lee had sprung into action and kicked Doku in the air. Lee soon caught up with him and appeared from behind. Suddenly, his bandages unravelled themselves and wrapped al around Doku's body, trapping him.

I noticed Zaku pull some hand signs, but I was to entranced by what Lee was doing. He grabbed him from behind and spang him like a drill, head first into the ground.

Zaku punched his fists into ground, and that's when I heard it. Almost like a gush of wind but it was faint.

So that was the secret to their technique, well to Zaku's anyway. Lee jumped away with the dust cleared, Doku's upper body was stuck in the ground, however, the mud was slightly raised and made softer.

"Oh, Boy..." I heard Zaku say "Looks like I made it in time."

Doku slowly pushed himself out and shook his head.

"That can't be!" Lee cried.

Zaku started snickering, making him lose focus on me.

Without him realising, I appeared behind him, and blew into his ear. He flinched at the contact which allowed me to side step around him.

"**Mountain Fist! Slash of the Golden Eagle!"**

I managed to land at hit, unfortunately I only hit his shoulder blade. Still, it was enough to send him backwards and deal some damage.

He landed on his feet hard and clutched his shoulder, "what the?"

"It's not wise to get distracted when I'm around" I told him harshly "Especially when you have a technique as loud as yours."

"As loud as... what are you talking about!?" he demanded.

It was my turn to smirk, "my teammate may not be able to hear anything, but I can... clear as a melody!"

I heard him hiss under his breath.

"It seems I'm you're worse kind of opponent." I commented.

His eyes widened with rage "Shut up Bitch!"

He then shot his arms towards me, immediately, I heard the gust sound again... only it was more intense and powerful. I could hear a powerful wave come towards me, slicing into the ground as if it were fabic.

"Tomoko-san!" I heard Lee call, but he was busy with Doku.

"Tomoko! No!" Sakura cried.

Zaku chuckled, "Too easy!"


End file.
